


Katekyo Swordsman Squalo!

by Aines445



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Home Tutor Replacement, Humor, Reborn still exists so don't worry, Snippets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2019-07-08 08:16:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 31,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15926465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aines445/pseuds/Aines445
Summary: Without a direct heir, the ninth boss of the Vongola, old of age and ready for retirement assigned Tsunayoshi Sawada as his successor. Fitting of the unexpected decision, and perhaps as the most apparent show of senility from the Ninth, the one chosen to tutor the boss-to-be was Squalo Superbi, ever loyal to the Varia and more than willing to rid Xanxus of his rival.





	1. The Ninth

At the Vongola Headquarters, a certain swordsman and the Ninth boss of the Vongola were having a stare-off. The request had been made; the mission had been laid out. However, Squalo, whose loyalties practically made him _have_ to cut the Ninth in half, was not very inclined to accept what had been asked of him. With a surprisingly analytical glare, Squalo pondered the Ninth's intentions.

Meanwhile, the Ninth had quite the innocent smile on his face as he stared at Squalo, one most people would be unable to resist. Even so, Squalo was a professional: he wouldn't fall for such things; if anything, that smile was annoying him further. Like Xanxus, Squalo thought the Ninth was completely unfit for ruling over the Vongola so, whatever kid he'd choose would never, ever be worthy of the title of Vongola Tenth. "What if I refuse?" Squalo asked, careful not to tread into a situation that would condemn the Varia.

"Well, that would most likely give the whole family mixed signs, wouldn't you think so? The Varia is suspected enough already," the Ninth calmly said, "Wouldn't you like to make up to that by contributing to its future?" The old man was surely convincing, though that hadn't been unexpected of him. Unfit or not, he had become the boss of the mafia for a reason... Beyond having been the only one available at the time with Vongola Blood.

... Which, apparently, some brat also happened to have. Tsunayoshi Sawada was his name. Immediately, Squalo traced that surname back to the head of the CEDEF, Iemitsu Sawada; no wonder he had been chosen. Supposedly, he was a descendant of the First boss of the Vongola, so it made sense that his son could be picked out, as there was no other heir to the Ninth.

After all, Xanxus did not possess the Vongola Blood; that was a fact Squalo (and only Squalo out of the whole Varia) was aware of. While Squalo wanted to refuse badly, the Ninth did have a point: refusing could cause the Varia to be seen as even more clearly against the Ninth than they already were, and the Ninth could finally see to it the Varia disbanded, removing any advantage the group would have had against the Vongola. Besides, Squalo was being given a chance to be constantly near one of Xanxus' most important obstacles, which was Tsunayoshi Sawada, and use him as he saw fit to aid Xanxus' rise to power. Like the saying, it would definitely be convenient to have his enemy closer to him...

"Hmph, fine!" Squalo ultimately exclaimed, unable to mask some of the displeasure that'd come with the Ninth's undeniable offer. Though, with his own plans for the mission, he could make sure to get back at the old man for his insolence once Xanxus was out of the ice, so that was at least _something_ to look forward to. "Consider that mission accepted! Just don't go complaining to me if the candidate doesn't manage to keep up with my training!"

It didn't, however, ease the blow of having to move to a remote town in Japan and tolerate some random brat for an indefinite amount of time, and he was left momentarily considering how hard Xanxus would have thrown the nearest object at him had he witnessed Squalo now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a re-post of one of my stories from my fanfiction.net account; basically one of the active ones I feel like people would actually enjoy if I posted, since I still like it, myself. To clarify, by the way, each of these chapters (originally called targets but archive of our own is mean in this regard) are 1000 words or less as per a self-imposed rule, so it's best to expect something like that. Since it's simple and short, it gets the perk of being easy to edit into another website, hahaha.


	2. The Door

Leaving Levi (if Mammon hadn't asked for extra fees, he would have been his first pick, honestly) as the temporary leader of the Varia and explaining the situation to him, Squalo immediately left to Namimori, Japan. While it could've seemed like Squalo was betraying the Varia, he had been far from it: instead, he was going to watch over Tsunayoshi Sawada, think of a way to break Xanxus free from the ice he was bound to and, when the time arose, kill his supposed pupil; as easy as that. Something like that surely required Varia Quality, as it involved being a fairly convincing home tutor.

... Naturally, and without a shadow of a doubt for the assassin in question, everyone who knew the name 'Squalo Superbi' also knew the one thing he _never_ lacked was Varia Quality. Reaching the Sawada residence, Squalo found himself in front of a locked front door. Was he going enter through a window? No, since that was unnecessary. Was he going to bother knocking on the door and waiting to be answered? _Hell no._ With his right leg, he kicked the door down, successfully creating his entrance.

_**"Voooooii!"**_ he shouted to make his presence known further. Causing a huge ruckus in the morning was, of course, the _best_ way to go about entering a house; it at least entertained him somewhat. At the sight of Nana Sawada and Tsunayoshi Sawada, one having been interrupted while walking to another room and the other having been about to leave for school respectively, Squalo grinned. Afterwards, Squalo pointed his sword at Tsuna, but was facing Nana. "My name is Squalo Superbi, and I'm gonna be that piece of trash's home tutor from this day on, you hear me?!"

... Tsuna only shrieked in fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Squalo = 2 cool 4 doors
> 
> This is a humor story, and while there maaaaay or may not be a few serious moments here and there, most of this will have a lighthearted tone that this chapter more or less embodies. Nothing quite like writing Squalo barging in and screaming.


	3. Food

Somehow, after that, Squalo had been warmly welcomed to the house and allowed to stay there for as long as he wanted, provided he would do his job as Tsuna's home tutor. Everything was going according to plan, Squalo noted; as expected. "My, Squalo-kun, you're amazing...!" Nana exclaimed in admiration, only for Squalo to smirk proudly. "You've finished already!"

"Hmph, what else were you expecting?!" Holding a far too quickly emptied plate that used to contain food five minutes ago, Squalo shouted, "Vooi, one more!"

Nana's eyes widened further as she took the plate. "Are you sure you haven't eaten enough?" Worried for his health, Nana found the need to ask that question, seeing as Squalo had already eaten at least ten servings of the food she had prepared; she even had to cook more to accommodate him.

"Why else would I ask you if not because I'm sure?! Now go get me one more serving of that, woman!" Squalo had never considered himself a big eater, and he surely had never eaten so much in his life. However, after many, many years of having to deal with eating subpar meals from a chef that only hadn't been killed because there weren't any cheaper choices for an under-funded Varia, the Japanese food he had tasted was almost divine to his taste buds: as far as he was concerned, he'd eat until he'd drop to the floor since Tsuna's mother had, to his surprise, amazing cooking skills.

Meanwhile, Tsuna was only watching from afar with a blank gaze, a notebook in trembling hands (as, despite everything, Squalo continued to be one scary young man): it was a Math notebook, which he had supposedly been made to use by Squalo... The same Squalo who was currently too busy with food to pay him any attention. _What kind of home tutor are you supposed to be...?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To quote my fanfiction.net self: "A headcanon from me is that the Varia had somewhat of a fall from grace after their attempt at a coup d'etat and Xanxus's whole being frozen thing. Naturally, the Varia used to be well-accomodated because it makes sense to keep your most skillfull assassins happy when they do all the jobs you don't feel like doing, but the Varia of now is a band of traitors without a leader and have no one's trust, so they barely have all that many missions and their funds are running low; the only thing keeping them around is the Ninth not disbanding them."


	4. Stairs

While Squalo was already scary in general, when he would _truly_ get scary, in Tsuna's eyes, was when he was actually bothering to tutor him. "You see that building over there?" Squalo pointed at a fairly tall apartment building with his sword which, Tsuna noted, was practically his hand since he had none. "You're gonna run to the top floor," he asserted, "using the stairs. Ten times."

"W-what?!" _No way, that's gotta have like, over 15 floors! I can't do that!_ "That's way too unreasonable!" Tsuna protested in a mix of panic and frustration, the latter almost invisible for his own safety's sake.

At first, admittedly enough, Tsuna had no idea what to make of Squalo Superbi: he seemed mostly like a very strange, violent man leeching off the Sawada residence... Until said violent man told him he was there to make him a mafia boss. Naturally, Tsuna refused the position right away, but found himself still having no choice but to deal with Squalo's training.

... After all, Squalo was _scary._ "Vooi, 'unreasonable', you say? That's child's play, you shitty brat! If you can't even go up and down some stairs then you're not even worth talking about!" _Those aren't just 'some stairs'!_ While Tsuna wanted to say that, he ended up whimpering instead, finding Squalo's glare far too terrifying for him to risk those words. "So, what are you waiting for?! Get moving, trash!"

"B-but...!" Tsuna hesitated, his gaze having fallen to Squalo's sword: he'd seen it being used (on objects, thankfully enough), so Tsuna knew it could slice him apart too; it definitely wasn't a toy. "That's impossible for someone like me...!" Even so, he found a need to complain, especially when he was being given such ridiculous training.

... Seeing Squalo position his sword at Tsuna's line of sight, he immediately regretted his words. "Well, tough luck!" Squalo countered, "It's either going up stairs or getting slashed in three pieces: what's your pick?!"

Tsuna did not even need to give him an answer. He started running for that building as if his life depended on it, tears almost falling from his eyes out of sheer fear. "Thought so." Squalo grinned. To scare Tsuna off (and amuse himself) further, he then shouted, "Voooi, and you better get that done in 10 minutes or you'll have to do it all over again!"

Tsuna shrieked in horror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely one of my favorite chapters. Tsuna's fear gets to me, and it's the first time you see Squalo trying for training and he can't even be argued with like with Reborn. Feels bad for Tsuna, man. Squalo doesn't have much to do with his life right now.


	5. Kyoko

In all the time he had spent with Tsuna so far, Squalo had never bothered with his school life, and he had intended to keep it that way: school was boring, after all. Besides, he wasn't in charge of having him be the biggest nerd in History; Squalo was there to make him a mafia boss (or, more specifically, to pretend to be there to make him a mafia boss). However, Squalo had been terribly bored that day, so he decided Tsuna could be privileged enough to have him by his side while he went to school.

"Ah, Sawada-kun! This is rare." Squalo immediately snapped his head towards the voice's source, which was a girl about Tsuna's age with short, light brown hair. She had a cheerful smile on her face, and seemed to be acquainted with Tsuna. "I usually don't see you when I go to school." Since Squalo had decided to accompany Tsuna (something Tsuna himself had not wanted at all), he hadn't been late for school for once in his life.

Due to that, however, Tsuna had actually met Kyoko, his crush coincidentally while walking to school. Suddenly, for once, Tsuna felt immensely thankful for Squalo's existence. "K-Kyoko-chan! Good m-morning...!" Squalo's eyes narrowed suspectingly. _What the hell?_

"Good morning!" she greeted back, only for Tsuna's cheeks to redden in embarrassment; Squalo raised an eyebrow in confusion. Afterwards, finding that Kyoko's attention had started being on Squalo, he immediately proceeded to glare at her, but Kyoko failed to notice the hostility. "Who's this? Your older brother?" Kyoko curiously asked Tsuna before offering Squalo a smile again.

Before Tsuna could even attempt to open his mouth, Squalo had already started shouting, "Vooooi, like hell I'm this brat's brother! My name is Squalo Superbi, and you better remember it now that I've told you!" He pointed at her with his sword, making her blink in surprise.

Meanwhile, Tsuna found himself almost unable to voice his incredulity, though his mouth hung open for the seconds taken for Kyoko to react to Squalo's threat. "S-Squalo...!" Regardless, since Squalo was a threat to Kyoko of all people, Tsuna had inadvertently conveyed slight anger in between his agitated voice, a fact Squalo had managed to notice.

"What?! You got a problem?!" Squalo shifted his gaze to Tsuna with the same outraged expression he had shown Kyoko, but only so as to confirm that Tsuna was acting strange. At the very least, there were signs of it, signs Squalo did not right away decipher the meaning of: not only had Tsuna been blushing ever since the girl had gone up to him, but he also seemed to get angry exactly when Squalo had pointed his sword at her. He took a moment to process that as he stared Tsuna's way and Kyoko lightly tilted her head to the side in confusion, but Squalo ultimately grinned when he realized the obvious origin of Tsuna's investment in the situation. "Oh, I got it," Squalo said, "I guess I should've expected that out of trash like you!"

Squalo almost felt like laughing in light of the circumstances, which he only took time to guess due to his lacking affinity with matters as emotional as love. _Right away, he's got an exploitable weakness! This is just getting better and better!_ Meanwhile, Tsuna grimaced, as unsettled as he was confused by Squalo's display of amusement at his expense. "What are you even saying...?!" he questioned.

Tsuna would've remained unsettled if not for Kyoko suddenly giggling, making both Tsuna and Squalo turn to her only in confusion. "You kind of remind me of my older brother, Squalo-san," Kyoko remarked, "You're also really loud and eccentric. I bet you'd get along really well!" _Kyoko-chan, no!_ Tsuna's face immediately went from surprised to pale, knowing that the swordsman beside him would not be appreciative of those words.

... Never again was he going to accompany Tsuna to school, Squalo noted. With a deathly glare and his sword practically aiming for Kyoko already, Squalo found the absolute need to counter her words, if not just kill her then and there. **"Voooooooi...!"  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Considering the word limit, I imagine it's expected the prose is sort of on the simple side, and I'm hoping to go for a lighter tone. I wanted to depict Squalo reacting to lots of things, and Kyoko greets Tsuna pretty normally in the beginning of the series so I felt like this might as well happen. There are a few characters who end up differently because of Squalo's presence, but Kyoko has always been Tsuna's crush, so...


	6. Tsuna's Notebook

In his own room, Tsuna's hand shook out of fear as he attempted to write the last few numbers he thought the exercise required for its completion. "Are you done yet?" Immediately, Tsuna flinched. Glancing at Squalo, Tsuna found that he seemed extremely bored: Squalo was lying on the ground of his messy bedroom and gazing at his sword, as if unable to do anything else. Though, seeing as Tsuna was giving him no answer, Squalo repeated, **"Voi, are you done yet?!"**

"I-I'm almost done! Really!" In a rush, Tsuna's numbers became even more distorted, making it doubtful that Squalo would ever read through them. Besides, Squalo was already completely unmotivated to begin with, as he could hardly entertain himself watching a focused, non-endangered Tsuna the same way he could while watching him run for his life in training.

Squalo glanced at Tsuna in order to check if he'd really quickened his pace, and scowled. "Hmph, you better be," he asserted, "because after this, you're getting your lazy ass off your stupid studying and clean the dump that's your bedroom! At least that'll be a better way to waste your time!"

Tsuna dropped his pencil in shock. "What...?!" he uttered, looking around him: in his perspective, his bedroom looked like how it normally was. While Tsuna knew that his bedroom was messy in comparison to many others, he still found no need to do anything in particular about it. Rather, cleaning was far too troublesome to force Tsuna into action, especially when there was no hope for himself to begin with.

"You heard me, trash, you're cleaning your bedroom!" Squalo, on the other hand, was an outraged outsider, and Tsuna could see he was being honest about his opinion (especially since Squalo had never once held back on Tsuna). "Got any problem with that?! Instead of sitting around and doing nothing all the time, you gotta move already!" As if to express his point further, Squalo had stood up and waved his sword around while he spoke. "Don't think you'll be able to do everything just by knowing some Math!"

... Tsuna found himself unable to deny that statement. However... "B-but I don't wanna...!" Tsuna complained, completely focused on Squalo rather than the Math exercise he had been doing previously.

"Voooi, stop whining! I'm not supposed to be your babysitter, so I shouldn't even need to deal with any of your stupid tantrums!" After those loud words, Squalo looked down at Tsuna's right hand, which was holding no pencil. "And finish that shitty equation thing already, damn it!" While it was already obvious Squalo didn't actually know what Tsuna was doing, Tsuna was too scared to give insight on that.

Instead, Tsuna frantically nodded as he picked up his pencil. "Y-yeah, I'll deal with that right away!" In three seconds, he had already finished writing the answer. That was a record time for Tsuna: perhaps Squalo's methods really _were_ the most effective to teach him (even though they were mostly unintentional). "Done!"

"About freaking time!" Squalo snatched Tsuna's notebook from his hands and quickly looked over what he had done, almost to the point Tsuna wondered if Squalo had truthfully paid attention to the contents. "Voi... I can't read this thing, you piece of trash!" Squalo exclaimed, "What the hell were you doing all this time?! If you can't even write straight, how are you even planning on getting a grade for anything in school?!"

Squalo threw Tsuna's notebook on the floor and stormed out of the room, causing Tsuna to whimper. _I only couldn't write because of you...!_ However, when Squalo was by the stairs, he shouted to him, "You better get to cleaning that shithole of yours right now, because I'm going out! If your room's not damn sparkling by the time I get there, believe me that my sword will be used to cut you in three!"

With that, Tsuna heard the sound of Squalo doing down the stairs, his footsteps as loud as his words. As he thought about it, Squalo did have to stay in his room for a long time just to watch over him, and he never looked too happy about it. Not only that, but Squalo also seemed to find Tsuna's room to be more of a priority than him actually learning; Tsuna's helpless gaze turned blank. _In the end, he's just making me clean because he's getting sick of my room, isn't he...?_

He then glanced at his notebook. _And Math..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To quote my fanfiction.net self: "Nana definitely rejoiced after the events of this chapter. It's basically the story of how Tsuna started cleaning his room because Squalo's too scary to be questioned. Despite his violent demeanor, I see Squalo as someone who's probably organized in great contrast with some of Varia's other members like Belphegor; not as organized as Levi, but organized enough to get sick of filth if he could just make it go away. While in the Varia's HQ I'm sure there are a bunch of other people who clean up the Varia's messes, Tsuna has to work by himself since there's no way Squalo would help him out."


	7. Ryohei and Tsuna

It was only 6:30 in the morning when Tsuna was suddenly woken up by a loud voice. "Voooooii!" He immediately recognized it as Squalo and groaned to his pillow. _Why...?!_ "Get your lazy ass out of that bed and go outside! You're gonna train!" Tsuna groaned again. "You hear me?!"

Having no choice, Tsuna practically jumped out of his bed before he could even let Squalo threaten to cut him apart were he not to do otherwise. With a yawn, Tsuna looked around his clean room, still having not gotten used to how it looked. Meanwhile, since he had successfully woken Tsuna up, Squalo had already left Tsuna's bedroom without him even noticing beforehand.

Sighing, Tsuna decided to quickly change out of his pajamas and randomly put on the first T-shirt and set of pants he'd see, lest he'd want to see Squalo's wrath by taking too long (not that Squalo wouldn't be angry anyway). _I don't wanna do anything, but I don't have any choice..._ With a troubled frown, he walked out of his room. **"Voooi!"**

Tsuna flinched. _Is he complaining already?!_ Thinking that was the case, Tsuna dashed through the stairs and immediately reached for the front door without even greeting his mother. When he opened it, however, he found a sight he had never expected. "But I've already apologized to you! What's your problem?!" Right in front of his house, a silver-haired teenager with a bandage on the bridge of his nose who seemed to be around Tsuna's age (or slightly older, he deducted) was arguing with Squalo, something Tsuna (or most people, really) would consider suicidal.

"How about the fact that you were almost going to make me drop my sword from how hard you bumped into me, huh?! If I were just a regular guy, I could've even fallen because of your stupid 'jog'! Consider yourself lucky that didn't happen, you piece of trash!" Because otherwise, Squalo guaranteed in his mind, the boy in front of him would've been killed afterwards without any hesitation... Or so he would have wanted, but he had been earnestly urged by the Ninth not to do so, and considering one of the reasons Squalo even agreed to tutoring Tsuna in the first place was so the Varia wouldn't get a bad reputation for rejecting the offer, he knew he was better off not doing such actions. With that in mind, Squalo was even more pissed off, finding that he really couldn't cut him apart even though he had interrupted him while he was doing something as important as sword maintenance (having thought Tsuna would take that long to come).

Tsuna merely stared in shock and horror, finding it somewhat perplexing how similarly loud both were: while Squalo did happen to be slightly louder, the boy he was arguing with managed to still be loud by normal standards; not only that, but they both seemed thick-headed. "I'm not a piece of trash! My name is Ryohei Sasagawa!"

Tsuna flinched. _Sa-Sasagawa...?!_ The only person he knew with that surname was Kyoko, though it was still possible that Ryohei was completely unrelated to her. However, when he reminded himself of what Kyoko had said when she met Squalo (the memory of Tsuna having to hold him back from Kyoko and then having Squalo target him with his sword afterwards surged as well, but he quickly dismissed that trauma), Tsuna found himself doubting that to be the case.

_"You kind of remind me of my older brother, Squalo-san. You're also really loud and eccentric. I bet you'd get along really well!"_

... Really, what kind of normal person would continue to argue with Squalo Superbi without even questioning the sword? Putting even that aside, the physical resemblance between the two was uncanny enough to have spurred Tsuna's memory of Squalo's encounter with Kyoko; the dots connected themselves far too well to be left alone. _But wait, that means he's Kyoko-chan's brother!_ "No, stop, Squalo!" Tsuna immediately exclaimed out of pure panic. _If Squalo were to hurt him, Kyoko-chan would definitely be sad..._! "Don't do anything, please!"

Both Squalo and Ryohei turned to Tsuna confusedly. "Huh? Who are you?" Ryohei asked while scratching his head, actually trying to see if he recognized someone like Tsuna.

"Voi, and why should I listen to you?!" Meanwhile, Squalo was angry from being interrupted by Tsuna, no less. Nervously, Tsuna moved forward and out of the house's premises, though also making sure he was at a safe distance from Squalo and his sword.

That meant he was closer to Ryohei than anything, even though he didn't know him personally, only assuming he was Kyoko's brother (while he was correct, it was still a risky guess). "B-because..." Tsuna glanced to one side, and then the other: Ryohei was in his line of sight. _I don't want him to just get hurt...!_ "Because I'm going to do that training you were talking about with him...!" As Squalo blinked in confusion, Tsuna quickly grabbed Ryohei's arm and started running away, anxiety evident in his widened eyes. _That made no sense! Why did I do that...?!_

While Ryohei was also surprised, Squalo had quickly finished processing what exactly Tsuna had pulled on him... And immediately proceeded to relentlessly follow the two. **_"VOOOOOI,_** you shitty brat, get back here!"

"Oh, that's a pretty good jogging form! I can clearly see the boxing potential exuding from you! I'm surprised I haven't come across you before!"

... Looking back at an exceedingly awed, though easygoing Ryohei, Tsuna felt like he was about to cry. "Why did things have to turn out this way...?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Each chapter was supposed to be named 'Target' and the chapter names were going to be the names of things that were targeted as a result (particularly by Squalo). So, this was originally Target(s) 7 and I sort of like the silly sound of that. Regardless, Ryohei's the first guardian to show up and I want to shower him with love by making him as in-character as I possibly can! One thing I ended up noting researching Ryohei's character is that the word 'extreme' isn't uttered as often as you'd think: most of the time, he's just saying silly stuff. He's hard to nail as a character when you realize the extreme catchphrase is not a crutch.


	8. Just Ryohei

After that, somehow, Ryohei had decided to become friends with Tsuna. Apparently, Squalo's physical training had actually been working as Tsuna had developed enough stamina for him to attain Ryohei's approval... Though both had still been caught by Squalo, and luckily for them, he couldn't kill the future tenth boss of the Vongola just yet. Whatever the case, Tsuna had gained a new friend, who also happened to be Kyoko's older brother. "Sawada, just join the boxing club already!"

... Anyone in Tsuna's position would've at first thought having a friend like that would be great, but after realizing Ryohei would be constantly trying to convince them to join the Boxing club, they would most likely regret even thinking that. "U-uh!" Even while he was actually trying to study in his bedroom (by Squalo's orders), Ryohei was there to attempt to convince him, having flat out intruded upon the residence (not that Nana had minded that). "Can you please just let me finish this...?!"

"Why?! Rather than doing that, you should be joining the boxing club! I guarantee it's much better than those equation things!" Like Squalo, Ryohei obviously didn't even know what Tsuna was doing, but didn't care either. The fact that Ryohei was genuinely confused as to why Tsuna would be doing his homework only served to depress Tsuna further. _Just how do I get him to stop asking...?_

It seemed impossible. Ryohei was too persistent. Suddenly, the door was slammed open. "Vooi, you're not done yet?!" Squalo had returned, Tsuna noted: that was how long he was taking because of Ryohei. Squalo had even left the house to do whatever (Tsuna didn't dare to ask), only for Ryohei to have entered a while afterwards, ruining the peace in the household. Noticing him, Squalo glared at Ryohei... Tsuna gulped, predicting what was going to happen next. "What the hell are you doing here, trash?! If you don't want to get slashed in three by my sword, you better get out!"

"I've told you many times already that I'm not trash, but Ryohei Sasagawa! When will _you_ start remembering that?!"

"Hah, as if I'd bother with your name! As I also said many times already, trash is still trash! Now stop getting in the way and leave!"

"I'm not getting in the way! I'm asking him to join the boxing club!"

"And I've refused that for him because he doesn't have time for useless school activities! Give it up already! That brat's still gotta train after this, and I'm not gonna take any more of you and your shitty nagging!"

"Nagging, you say?! This doesn't even have anything to do with you! I'm asking Sawada to join the boxing club because I see his potential, and no amount of work you pile up on his shoulders will ever change his willingness to fulfill his destiny! If anything, the one who's nagging him in this situation is none other than you!"

"Voi, you better take that back if you know what's good for you, you piece of trash!"

... Tsuna's head dropped to the table as he zoned out of Ryohei and Squalo's bickering. With a feeling of absolute helplessness looming over his mind, Tsuna started wondering if the scene he had just witnessed was going to always repeat itself and eventually become commonplace in his daily life, having already enough with a violent home tutor wanting to make him a mafia boss.

Tsuna groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The neat thing about canon is that Tsuna was able to refuse joining the boxing club after beating Ryohei with his Dying Will. In here, he suffers lol Well, Tsuna and Squalo suffer. To be honest, that makes up a lot of this story, in retrospect.


	9. Salt

Since Squalo barely bothered with Tsuna's school life beyond his obligation to teach him school subjects (as part being a home tutor) or, as Squalo had decided to do, make Tsuna study on his own, he would usually find himself with a lot of free time on school days. It wasn't like he wasn't used to it already, having practically nothing to do in the Varia's Headquarters beyond dull leader work in Xanxus's stead, but he would still find himself bored before the peaceful daily life in the Sawada residence without the trash he had to tolerate. In other words, Squalo, when not having to deal with Tsuna, had to distract himself by other means.

"Voi, this is it, right?!" With two leeks and a lettuce in hand, Squalo walked over to Nana at a pace considered monstrous by others, but normal by him. If anything, he had actually noticed everyone's disturbed stares directed at him but he didn't care, and Nana surely hadn't noticed that either. "What's next on the list?!"

Nana smiled cheerfully and took the vegetables from him, putting them in the shopping cart behind her. "Well, let's see..." Afterwards, she rummaged through her purse with a thoughtful expression, only to take a small sheet of paper out of it. "Now that you've brought those, we need..." She read through the list on it carefully and glanced behind her many times to check if anything was missing while doing so, not having any pen to scratch out what she already had in her possession. "Salt! That's the only thing left!"

"Salt, huh? I'm pretty damn sure I saw that at the back of this place," Squalo said, "I'll go get that!" Squalo stomped off to find salt, still with an intimidating aze and stance that made no one in the supermarket dare to even be close to any of the sections he'd move toward. In many ways, shopping for groceries with Nana was something of mutual benefit to both of them: while Nana could get that done faster, Squalo would also get his meals faster...

... Or so went the excuse he would use if anyone were to ask, as he wanted to preserve his pride. Instead, Squalo just happened to be an assassin with too much free time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also one of my favorite chapters. This story just about created a character dynamic that shouldn't exist, but works and it continues to amuse me intensely. Why is it so easy and satisfying to write Squalo and Nana talk? The premise alone gets to me positively.


	10. Tsuna's Bullies

Ever since Ryohei had become Tsuna's friend, he'd found no need to worry about bullies. They had never been that common, most students usually preferring to just make fun of Tsuna instead of physically harming him, but the few that were still around had stopped being a problem.

... If anything, Tsuna felt like Ryohei had become the bullies' problem instead. "Bullying is extremely lame, so stop doing that to Sawada!" Ryohei exclaimed just after he had very one-sidedly beat said bullies in an 'unavoidable match for Sawada's sake and not just some petty fight,' or so he had claimed. Tsuna could see where he was coming from, but it still didn't change the fact that Ryohei had beaten them badly.

Because of the obvious efforts from Ryohei to stop Tsuna from being so mistreated, a lot of students had also stopped making comments in general, so Tsuna didn't really have any reasons to complain. "Ugh... What the hell...? Since when did Sasagawa become friends with No-Good Tsuna, anyway...?" one of the bullies muttered in a strained voice, originated from sheer pain. They had been the ones who had approached Tsuna first: had they refrained from approaching him, they could've avoided their fate. Even so, Tsuna couldn't help but feel (somewhat) sorry for the bullies; they hadn't been expecting Ryohei at all.

"Since Sawada showed skill fit to join my boxing club, of course! You should all start acknowledging him as well!" Naturally, Tsuna did not see himself as particularly skillfull in fighting of any kind, but Ryohei spoke only out of perceived potential as of now; a mere hypothesis. Otherwise, he wouldn't need to defend Tsuna to begin with, but, surprisingly enough, Ryohei enjoyed hanging around Tsuna. As he recalled his new friendship, and Tsuna's potential, Ryohei turned to face Tsuna with an expectant gaze, causing Tsuna to immediately flinched. "Speaking of that...!" _Not again!_

Meanwhile, though Tsuna considered Ryohei a good person, he had to (mentally) admit that the boxing club was the last club he would ever want to join. "Uh, oh no, I've got to... t-to... go to the bathroom!" Tsuna hurriedly exclaimed before dashing away and waving at Ryohei from behind. "I-I'll see you later!" Tsuna supressed the part of him apologetic in regards to his course of action, even if he was very appreciative of Ryohei's clear kindness and reliability, if only to make sure he would still be able to count the times Ryohei asked him to join his club with two hands. However, as of now, he wasn't exactly sure if he had maintained that, or if he'd lost count already...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Ryohei's character voice is a little difficult, since it's sort of a mix between rough and convoluted; it's really hard to explain. Also, Ryohei being Tsuna's first friend and a pretty awesome one gets to me because Ryohei doesn't get much of a spotlight in the original series." I think my fanfiction.net self pretty much says it all, but I also want to point out the sheer desperation in Tsuna to avoid the boxing club despite being appreciative of Ryohei's support lol


	11. Tsuna's Improvement

While his tests had practically the same results as when Squalo wasn't around, Tsuna would be lying if he claimed he hadn't improved physically at all, especially when he was being one of the best students at anything requiring stamina. At first, he had been surprised when out of his whole class, he had been one of the last three still running around the school without getting tired; so had the PE teacher. Other classmates even speculated he had taken breaks while doing those laps, but that hadn't actually been true as the other two were witnesses to his achievement.

Afterwards, he started to realize that going up many staircases, doing laps around whole neighborhoods and regular morning jogs like Squalo had told him was improving his stamina a lot: before, just half a lap around the school was enough to get him out of breath. His class, picking up on that, had been even more hesitant to call Tsuna by his usual nickname, still greatly surprised themselves.

At the ending of a particular PE class, a classmate approached him with a cheerful smile. "Yo!" he greeted, making Tsuna flinch; he hadn't noticed him at all. Confused, Tsuna turned around, only to find that one of the most popular students in his class, Takeshi Yamamoto, had been the one who started talking to him. "You were awesome back there, Tsuna! I could barely even breathe by the 10th lap, but you still kept going!"

Admittedly, Tsuna was surprised: he had realized (faintly) he wasn't as bad as usual, but he wasn't expecting other people to praise him, No-Good Tsuna, regardless. Even so, it was true that, somehow, he had started to surpass even Takeshi Yamamoto in terms of stamina; a notion he had never once considered. "Th-thanks..." Unable to hide how flattered and flustered he felt despite his attempt, Tsuna smiled with barely any awareness he was doing so.

_Having to get to the top of buildings with over 20 floors by using the stairs over 15 times can make you do that..._ With time, the numbers had really increased, though Tsuna hadn't even taken note of that; they were still big no matter how they changed. Besides, Squalo would make it look so easy whenever he would have to accompany him throughout (to make sure he wouldn't take breaks). Yamamoto chuckled. "You're welcome! You know, I've been hearing you're friends with Ryohei Sasagawa from 2-A. Is that true?"

It was still greatly strange to Tsuna that he had someone he could consider a friend, especially in someone as eccentric as Ryohei. He was appreciative of that fact, but even now, it hadn't truly sunk in, so being directly asked about it warranted a slightly surprised expression and some thought from Tsuna before speaking. "Well, uh, yeah," Tsuna awkwardly answered, wondering what Ryohei would be doing: something extreme, he deducted... Whatever it happened to be.

While Ryohei was known throughout the school, it was mostly because of how he would invite anyone he thought was good enough to join the Boxing club, and was rather persistent about it: in other words, he was more infamous than famous. "Cool! You didn't look like you had any friends before, so that's good to know. I heard he's kind of eccentric, but he doesn't look like he's a bad guy," Yamamoto said, "Anyway, I got club practice now, so I gotta get going!"

With that, Yamamoto grinned cheerfully and left while waving at Tsuna, resulting in Tsuna nervously waving back. _I've never talked to Yamamoto like this before,_ he thought, _Was he... looking out for me?_ Somewhat in awe, Tsuna stared off at Yamamoto as he left and only when he was no longer in his line of sight did he stop.

Before focusing on what he was doing before, Tsuna smiled, having a feeling that wouldn't be the last he'd hear of Yamamoto...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who knew normal training for an extended period of time that Tsuna has no means to get away from would actually yield results eventually, am I right? Yamamoto shows up, and that's as far as I want to say. Really like writing him, though.


	12. Tsuna's Friendships

... He wasn't sure of how or why it had happened, but Tsuna was going home with Yamamoto. "So, Sasagawa-senpai's at the Boxing club? Makes sense," Yamamoto conversationally uttered as he nodded to himself.

"Y-yeah, that's why he's not around." _And instead,_ you're _here,_ Tsuna mentally added while staring at a very carefree-looking Yamamoto. _How did this happen, really?_ Tsuna did remember that Yamamoto had started talking to him after school, and, just like that, they had already been heading out of the school gates before Tsuna could even process that they were actually walking home together. "He was almost going to drag me there, though..."

Yamamoto chuckled. "That sounds exactly like him! You know, I got invited to the Boxing club a while ago too: since I'm in the Baseball club, I had to refuse." Suddenly, to Tsuna's surprise, Yamamoto had stopped in his tracks, and his lighthearted smile had faded. "Hey, I don't know about you, but I think that long-haired man over there is staring at us," Yamamoto warned in an almost casual fashion, as if more curious than concerned.

"Huh?!" Immediately, Tsuna looked straight ahead of him, only to be horrified at the sight of Squalo scowling at him angrily. "S-Squalo...!" _This isn't good!_ While Tsuna was panicked, Yamamoto hadn't detected the killing intent practically oozing out of the strange, presumably foreign man he was coming across.

Due to that, he actually had the courage to speak up. "Oh, you know him?" he asked, only to then turn to Squalo with a grin and wave his way. "Hey there! My name's Takeshi Yamamoto! And you are?" _He's being friendly to him?!_ Tsuna thought incredulously, spotting Squalo glancing at him. _This really isn't good at all!_

Meanwhile, Squalo glared at Yamamoto, having deducted he was the cause for Tsuna being so late. Usually, Tsuna would arrive 20 minutes earlier than the time he had taken that day, which Squalo admittedly found strange. Besides that, Squalo could see him being friendly to Tsuna and wearing the same uniform as him: he was definitely a classmate, and most likely some friend of Tsuna's. However, what truly struck him as awful was the fact that Yamamoto was casually greeting Squalo and introducing himself as if there was nothing to fear. He was oblivious... Just like Ryohei, who was nothing short of an annoyance in Squalo's perspective.

So, rather than simply annoyed by Tsuna's tardiness, Squalo was now exceedingly annoyed and even slightly frustrated at the sight of Yamamoto as well, causing him to flail his sword around as he shouted, **"Voooi,** not another piece of trash...!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yamamoto: "Oh, hey, that's my original home tutor; he looks like a friendly guy!"
> 
> Why IS Yamamoto hanging out with Tsuna? Now that's the question, huh? Squalo suffering as always, probably as a punishment for making Tsuna suffer in turn lol


	13. Yamamoto

"Voi, what the hell are you doing here?!" It had started all over again. Now, instead of bickering with Ryohei, Squalo would bicker with Yamamoto. Tsuna's hands were already covering his face out of frustration as he found himself unmotivated to do any work.

Since Ryohei had boxing club practice, he wasn't around, meaning that Tsuna was only with Yamamoto, doing his homework. Tsuna wasn't particularly sure of when it had started either, but Yamamoto had become friends with him... He figured. "I'm with Tsuna again," Yamamoto simply answered, as though free of concerns.

That, of course, only served to add to Squalo's irritation. "And who said you could do that, huh?!" Squalo pointed at him with his sword, making Yamamoto only slightly surprised.

Curious, Yamamoto asked, "I need permission? That's kinda weird." Somehow, everyone could simply ignore the sword after the first time they would see it. In Yamamoto's case, he just assumed it was a toy, but Tsuna could only guess why the others had taken the same stance. "Well, I guess Tsuna let me in then."

"Voi, that's not what I meant, you idiot!" The urge to kill Yamamoto was tremendous to Squalo, but the Ninth had already explicitly stated in a letter (after his first report asking about it) that he could not cut Tsuna's friends in three, so his hand trembled in fury instead. "You're a distraction and that piece of trash is working, so get out of here!"

... Yamamoto turned to Tsuna ( _"Vooooii!"_ ). "Am I being a distraction?" he asked, an apologetic smile on his face. "If so, sorry for that." Yamamoto scratched his head as though troubled before glancing at Squalo, whose killing glare and scowl were enough to scare even middle-aged men out of their wits; Yamamoto was unaffected.

At the fact that he actually had to speak up, and the expectant gazes of both Yamamoto and Squalo, Tsuna grimaced. "U-uh..." On one hand, Tsuna didn't think Yamamoto was a distraction but, on the other hand, saying that could make Squalo even angrier than he already was.

**"Speak already, you shitty brat!"**

Tsuna jumped out of his seat with little hesitation, and spared Squalo and Yamamoto no glances. "Sorry, g-gotta go...!" With that, Tsuna bolted from the room, leaving Squalo and Yamamoto to stare off at him with confused expressions.

... Afterwards, they glanced at each other. "Is he alright?" Yamamoto asked, finally allowing a thin frown of concern to surface. "Maybe I was being a distraction if he's that bothered."

_Tch, that brat's speed's improved..._ Meanwhile, Squalo was far more serious, starting to notice the actual changes he was causing to Tsuna. _Not that it'll make a difference in the end. There's no way he's gonna get as good as Xanxus, after all._ Finally focusing on Yamamoto from the fact that he had been staring at him while he was thinking, he shouted out as his response, **"Voi,** just get the hell out of here already!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: this story was supposed to just be a one-shot of this AU I was faintly thinking about, only for me to realize I had too much content in mind to pack into a one-shot, so it sort of became this. I hadn't exactly expected it to involve things like these, though. To quote my fanfiction.net self: "Meanwhile, Tsuna's reliving a nightmare of bickering, except it's one-sided when it's with Yamamoto. They do try to hang out with Tsuna, but Tsuna always seems to be busy with stuff like studying or homework or training. No wonder Squalo says he doesn't have time for clubs, hahaha."


	14. Japanese Superstitions

Eventually, Yamamoto and Ryohei got to meet when school ended and Tsuna was heading home. Since Ryohei wasn't busy with the boxing club and Yamamoto wasn't busy with the baseball club either, both had asked to go home with Tsuna. It was then that, beyond Tsuna's expectations, Yamamoto and Ryohei, both from different classes and years, started interacting as though Tsuna had united them in some way or form.

Although Tsuna did not feel bad over that, it was still awkward in his perspective, as he never considered that such a situation would arise from him, someone who scarcely knew other people well. The fact still slightly awed Tsuna, but the walk had been reverting the process little by little. "So you've been getting along with this guy while I wasn't around!" Ryohei concluded from Tsuna and Yamamoto's explanation, which was fairly straightforward. "I get it! Will you join the boxing club then, Yamamoto?!"

"Didn't I already refuse your invitation before?" Yamamoto asked as though truly confused, even if only slightly, by his own memory. Regardless, he kept a smile on his face, and continued to speak: "I can't join because I'm in the baseball club. Sorry."

"What?! I didn't know of this at all!" Ryohei exclaimed with genuine shock. Afterwards, his eyes narrowed while he pondered on the matter. "I see... So you can't join because the schedules overlap..." He nodded to himself, only to smile back at Yamamoto. "That's extremely unfortunate, but I understand! After all, if someone asked the same out of me, I'd also refuse!" _Then don't invite everyone to your club!_ Tsuna retorted in his mind, staring at Ryohei blankly.

Most likely because Ryohei could relate to Yamamoto's response, he had let him go, while Tsuna would still be eternally asked to join his club. Tsuna was already completely sure he did not want to join the boxing club, but he knew Ryohei wasn't going to let _him_ go from just that. _How am I ever going to get him off my back about this, really...? It's not like boxing interests me anyway, so I don't really want to learn._ In general, Tsuna had no expectations for himself when it came to anything, especially standing up for himself in something like fighting others in a boxing ring. To begin with, he found little joy in violence. As such, he did not see much use in joining the boxing club, as much as Ryohei attempted to convince him.

He liked being with Ryohei, seeing as he was his friend, but he wondered if entering the boxing club only for that sake would be worth it. Ryohei had wanted his presence so as to polish his potential. If Tsuna did not make an effort, he would be betraying his friend in that regard. _My friend..._ "Hm? Is something wrong, Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked.

Tsuna realized he had been spacing out while Yamamoto and Ryohei had been pleasantly talking about their clubs; they seemed to get along rather well. However, even beyond that, Tsuna noted with vacantly surprised eyes, Ryohei and Yamamoto had chosen to be with Tsuna, and they appeared to be pleased with that choice, surprisingly enough. "Now that I think about it, you've been really quiet for a while," Ryohei remarked, "Are you alright, Sawada?" Both were showing concern for his well-being, and both were people Tsuna could consider his friends, something he had never experienced before.

... Rather than thinking about Ryohei's invitations and the implications of joining the boxing club, as he had been previously, Tsuna couldn't help but smile. The changes that had occurred to his daily life were truly amazing: finally, there were more things he could be concerned about beyond Kyoko when in school... And finally, he had people he could rely on; it had all started with one event. _Ever since Squalo came over, I've going through Hell on Earth with training and being screamed at for no reason, but... Without that, I probably wouldn't have met them, and be this happy with my life._

 _So,_ Tsuna considered, _in a way, Squalo's actually been looking out for me all along...?_

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

Meanwhile, as Squalo tapped his foot impatiently waiting for Tsuna's arrival, he sneezed.

"Oh my," Nana reacted, having just entered the living room, "Could it be that someone's talking about you?" She smiled joyfully while facing Squalo, seeing him raise an eyebrow skeptically in response to her words. It amused her that he was sitting on the couch, merely waiting for Tsuna: to her, it meant that he cared enough to do so, and it did seem like Tsuna had been in a better mood recently.

... To Squalo, it just meant he really wanted to slash Tsuna in three for his tardiness. "Hmph, as if! That's just your shitty superstitions!" Even more impatient from the conversation he just had with Nana, he stood from the couch and stomped to the front door. "I'm gonna go find your slow piece of trash and drag his ass over here, got it?! I'm out!" With the actual courtesy of saying any parting words to Nana, he practically slammed the front door open and left the house.

Nana giggled. "It looks like you're in good hands, Tsuna..."

... The irony remained bittersweet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usually by the end of the manga or anime Tsuna has sort of a moment of reflection where he seemingly brushes off all the suffering he went through with Reborn's shenanigans and thinks about the fact that he wouldn't have made friends and whatnot if it weren't for his presence. I felt like at this point, with Squalo actually making him substantially improve for once, Tsuna might as well do the same. In a way, it's like an homage to those moments in the series lol Fun fact I learned after massive research: Nana addresses Tsuna as Tsu-kun in all contexts except in serious ones and when she's making reference to him talking to someone else; in such cases, she just calls him Tsuna.


	15. Boredom

In the midst of extreme boredom out of having to wait for Tsuna to arrive from school, Squalo would occasionally take a walk along the neighborhood. He would attempt to relax (as much as possible for someone like Squalo), reflect on his situation and see if he could think of a way to free Xanxus from his ice prison. Naturally, he would seldom succeed at thinking up such a plan, but he wasn't about to give up on his boss just yet. "Um!"

Squalo turned around with a menacing scowl. He had already detected a presence but he didn't think said presence would engage in any conversation (of all things) with him. At least, from what Squalo could see, the red-haired boy wearing glasses now directly in front of him seemed nowhere near an enemy to be cautious of. "You d-dropped this!" He was clearly intimidated by Squalo's presence, too.

He appeared to be wearing a uniform different from Tsuna's, but despite being a student, he wasn't at school yet for some reason. If he happened to be late, that would perhaps justify his unnerved demeanor further. "I wasn't s-sure whether these were important, but..." Squalo stared at what the boy had extended out from the palm of his hand.

Those tiny, square-like objects were the explosives he would incorporate in his sword. While they wouldn't simply detonate without being activated, it was still unrecommended to handle them carelessly; Squalo grimaced. A few minutes ago, Squalo had removed them for sword maintenance (that he would now do in a calm, empty space without having to worry about bumping into people like Ryohei), but it seemed as though they weren't perfectly safe in his pockets, Squalo noted. Squalo quickly, yet carefully took the explosives from the boy's hand without warning, making him fearfully flinch. "Voi, you better be glad this was something important. Otherwise, you would've been cut in three for interrupting me!"

As Squalo raised his sword in the boy's line of sight, pointing it threateningly, the boy widened his eyes in shock. "You hear me?!" Squalo grinned as he saw the boy let out a scream of horror from taking notice of the distinct metallic glint of his sword and ran away in fear.

Finally, someone other than Tsuna had reacted to his sword properly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I think about later on in the series, I end up wondering where Squalo's sword explosives went. Do you remember those? The explosives Squalo would launch from his sword? Aren't those the coolest thing? Good, now take Shoichi suffering.


	16. Psychic Powers

On his way home after school, Tsuna had encountered something beyond his comprehension, something that outclassed even his friends' eccentricities. He knew not any normal person could clear up his confusion, so he mustered the courage to speak up to the only other extreme eccentric that could likely know about the supernatural from some strange mafia conspiracy: "Uh, Squalo?"

"What?" Squalo was quick to snap his head in Tsuna's direction from his seat on his room's table, and his glare (rather, his usual intimidating self) was in such a way intense Tsuna could not help but hesitate for a moment after flinching. "If you've got something to say, just spill it out, trash!"

"I, I got it, I got it!" Tsuna's widened eyes were then cast to the floor, and his expression softened the more he considered his first idea in figuring out the abnormality he'd spotted. "Well, I don't know if you'd even believe this, though..." he muttered, dejected. _And I sure wouldn't wanna get Squalo angry just because of it..._

Meanwhile, Squalo's eyebrows rose from doubt by the mere mental image of Tsuna tricking him, and he scowled as though Tsuna had been challenging him in some way or form. "Voi, are you saying you're suicidal enough to lie to me?!"

Tsuna's gaze shifted to Squalo, and he shook his head if only to emphasize his point. "N-no way! You're way too scary to be lied to!"

"Then I'm not about to start thinking you're gonna tell me lies, either!" Squalo effortlessly and proudly retorted, only to smirk. "Besides, there's no chance you'd ever be able to trick me! I'd slice you in three before you could even think about it!"

Unable to deny Squalo's claims on the basis of being too scary and loud, Tsuna simply took half a moment to stare at Squalo blankly. _I can definitely see him doing that..._ "A-anyway," he uttered in hopes of ceasing to think of a murderous but perceptive Squalo chasing him down with a sword, "while I was going home, I met a really weird kid: he was beating up a dog without even directly touching him. It was almost like some kind of psychic power..."

Surprisingly enough, Squalo tensed, as though finally invested in the conversation. "Describe him. What did he look like?" he asked with eyes locked onto Tsuna's, almost dangerously so. Tsuna'd supressed an urge to step back from the overwhelming presence of a Squalo that actually seemed to care about something, and instead took to blinking in pure confusion.

"He had one braid sticking out from his head, and he was wearing red Chinese clothing," Tsuna ultimately said after a moment of light hesitation, "I couldn't tell how he was doing it, but it was like he was controlling the dog from afar." Processing Squalo's strange reaction even while speaking, Tsuna then looked to the side in hesitation. "Are psychic powers an actual thing...?"

_It's not Mammon's doing, that's for sure,_ Squalo thought while narrowing his eyes, and only after a moment did Squalo properly hear and consider Tsuna's question. "Hmph," he uttered before flashing an almost sadistic grin Tsuna's way, much to his dismay. "What? You scared?!"

_Why would I be scared of a kid when I have someone like you around?!_ "I'm just curious, really," Tsuna defended with a grimace, simply so Squalo would not establish him as afraid of children.

"Curious, huh?" Despite his initially normal response, Squalo then directed his sword to Tsuna accusingly and flailed it about as he shouted, "It's not like you're ever gonna run into the brat again, so who cares?! You don't have time to be thinking about meaningless stuff!"

"Alright, I'll do my homework, so just stop pointing that sword at me **—** "

"Like I'd take orders from you! I point my damn sword wherever I damn want!"

Tsuna sighed, but figured he was better off simply keeping quiet, as a prolonged argument would affect his ears more than anything else. Regardless, he could not help but think on Squalo's reaction to his words: unlike usual, he was being calm, even calculating. It was a side Tsuna would barely see, and it had faded quickly, mysteriously enough. Was Squalo perhaps hiding something, or was there another reason Tsuna wasn't aware of?

In the same way Squalo hardly knew about Tsuna's daily life beyond what he would witness at home, Tsuna knew surprisingly little about Squalo, and he wasn't sure if that was for the best. However, Tsuna never did have the courage to face Squalo without a greatly pertinent reason, so he dismissed the train of thought and took to his lone studying imposed by Squalo, noting his lack of motivation in the unproductive task above all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to the short format of the story, lots of chapters with other characters interacting make it so there are less moments with Squalo and Tsuna just talking; you know, since the other characters need time to shine, too. Still, since they're the main characters, I want there to be some idea of their dynamic and show off chapters like these, even if they serve sort of as set-up. Just who could Tsuna be talking about? Pretty sure everybody knows, but still.


	17. A Child Hitman

On the next day, Squalo was out of the house before Tsuna had even been able to say goodbye. According to his mother, he had apparently gone for a walk.

In truth, Squalo Superbi, elite assassin in his own right, had taken to tracking down the potential threat to his mission, as vaguely described by Tsuna. Although one would normally underestimate the other party based on their age, seeing as Squalo's target was a child, Squalo would only ever underestimate anyone due to not being Squalo (or Xanxus) himself. Considering one of the Varia's elite was an infant, it was only fair to assume the fighting prowess of the child he was looking for was not that of a normal civilian.

As expected, Squalo had quickly caught sight of a child resembling Tsuna's description in the middle of scouting the town. He appeared to be showing a photo to a young woman, only to curtly bow and leave her side without warning upon seemingly glaring her way. Squalo's eyes narrowed. _He's searching for someone?_ The child walked swiftly, and seemed attentive enough to his surroundings, but he was unable to detect Squalo's presence over a building's roof, hiding behind a chimney. He wasn't a normal kid, but he didn't rival someone from the Varia, Squalo noted; he saw himself slashing him in half in seconds.

Regardless, the path the child was taking was drawing him closer and closer to Namimori Middle School. _Is it that brat?_ Seeing as he was a boss candidate (somehow), Tsuna had a high likelihood of being targeted by assassins, and the lack of sound in the child's footsetps did indicate some form of stealth mastery. Squalo decided that the best way to capture and catch the child off-guard was to lunge at him while in movement, preferably in a less crowded area; he followed the child's movement like a shadow, and awaited his chance.

**. . .**

... In a moment, he became impatient. Just was the child treaded the sidewalk of a residential area, Squalo jumped down with his blade pointed down to the potential assassin. "Voooi!"

The child flinched due to the loud voice, but managed to move away from Squalo's aim regardless. He'd immediately assumed a fighting stance, and glared Squalo's way as if to assess his next action when he landed on the pavement. A pro hitman, he noted. "You're here on a job, right? Who's your target?"

The child processed Squalo's questions, and proceeded to tilt his head to the side in confusion, at first. Then, in slow, cautious steps, the child approached Squalo, but stopped while still at a distance. He reached for a bag supported by a small wooden stick, and from it, he took out a photo. The sunlight obstructed his sight somewhat, but from a glance alone, Squalo was absolutely certain that the middle-aged man in the photo hardly resembled Tsunayoshi Sawada. He felt almost disappointed by his lack of a reason to kill the hitman (though he wouldn't need a reason to kill someone, in his own perspective). "That's not somebody I know," Squalo said, "What kind of shady guy would even be hiding in a middle school, anyway?! Look somewhere else! And if you don't do what I tell you, expect to die before you can even notice how, trash!"

For a moment, the child and Squalo glared at each other. While Squalo was smirking, absolutely confident in his own strength, the only thing that kept the child there was stubborness, but even that would not truthfully override his instincts as a hitman. He took a step back, only to reluctantly dash away from Squalo. After all, had Squalo been acquainted with the target, he would have attempted to kill him; it was clear Squalo had the combat prowess to do so. Watching the child wisely escape, Squalo grinned, feeling the light weight of a victory over his shoulders. "Heh, thought so." With his warning passed on, Squalo stomped away with pride from intimidating a small child, planning on going for an actual walk before returning to the Sawada residence.

... Meanwhile, said child had mostly been stumped realizing her near-sighted self was heading for a middle school to begin with unbeknownst to Squalo, and she escaped from the fellow assassin dejected by her misconception. Who even _was_ her target, really...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To quote my fanfiction.net self: "Anyway, Lambo was called by Reborn, but I-pin actually showed up on her own and her master just made her stick with Tsuna after the events of her manga chapter/episode. Since she also showed up by default in Namimori Middle School to fight Tsuna, I was actually hugely troubled by what I'd do with her character in this story, particularly because Squalo makes a point not to be involved in Tsuna's school life and I don't think Fon would see Squalo as the best guy to live with. Thankfully, the manga chapter managed to save me because it timed Tsuna talking to Reborn about I-pin saving him at first while he was on his way home from school." Yup, this is I-pin's part; forgive me, I-pin!


	18. Nana Sawada

When Squalo returned to the Sawada residence, early into the afternoon, he was met with two presences, much to his surprise. He had halted his movement near the front door when he'd noticed, seeing as Tsuna would only return hours from now, but he was simultaneously certain he could not encounter someone as strong as himself. Squalo opened the front door without hesitation when he reached it, and slammed it behind him before shouting, "Vooooi, I'm back! Is the brat here?!"

"Welcome back, Squalo-kun!" Nana had shouted from a distance, but the volume of her voice paled in comparison to Squalo's. "Oh, and Tsuna is still in school! We do have a guest, though!" From her voice, it was clear she was in a good mood; at least, the presence could not belong to an intruder. Squalo walked for the kitchen, only to hear Nana further speak: "Hm? Where are you going? You haven't eaten everything y **—** Wait, it's dangerous leaving from the window!"

Squalo quickened is pace towards the kitchen, but by the time he arrived, Nana was by herself, looking towards the window with wide eyes. "He didn't have to go so suddenly..." Nana muttered, concern evident from her frown. She hadn't noticed Squalo behind her, who was surveying the area with raised eyebrows.

"Who was the guest?" Squalo asked, leading Nana to quickly turn around.

"Oh, Squalo-kun...!" Nana uttered in surprise, only to glance towards the open window. "That was a little boy I met just a little while ago. He helped me with the laundry, so I offered him lunch, but he jumped out of the window just now. And I was going to introduce you, too..."

_From the way he escaped after I spoke, he's got to have recognized me,_ Squalo thought. "How was he like?"

"Well, his hair was tied in a single braid, and he was wearing cute Chinese clothing. At first I didn't really understand him, but he was a really kind and polite boy, so I wouldn't have minded if he'd stayed for a while longer, really," Nana explained as she placed a hand near her mouth out of reflex, almost masking the way in which her frown had deepened upon pondering further on the situation. "I wonder why he was in such a hurry all of a sudden..."

_It's definitely that hitman. What was he here for? Was it just a coincidence?_ After all, Squalo had never told him to stay away from this neighborhood in particular. He'd warned the child about the school knowing Tsuna was there and that the hitman was heading that way, preventing any kind of conflict, even if accidental. Furthermore, Squalo hadn't given the child his address, and it was doubtful he could've successfully tailed Squalo without being noticed. Regardless, the presence of the hitman in what was essentially his place of residence left a bitter taste on Squalo, who, for once, took to calmly warning Nana: "You should start being more careful with bringing strangers around here. Brats or not, you never know what they could be hiding."

Nana tilted her head, seemingly confused at first by his words. However, upon noting Squalo's genuine grimace, Nana offered him a smile, and said, "My, are you worried?"

... Immediately, Squalo had regretted his calm approach. "Huh?! _Worried?!_ As if!" He then pointed his sword in Nana's direction in an accusing fashion while exclaiming, "It'd be trouble for me if I had to deal with any swindlers and killers breaking into the house, so it's only obvious I'd want you not to invite anyone and everyone you see into it!"

"Well, if I'd done that, you wouldn't be here right now, would you? You're a suspicious foreign young man wielding a sword in place of your hand, after all." Though Squalo would never ever admit to it, he flinched when he heard the truth laced in Nana's words, and scowled the very moment he noticed. "If it's about something as sinister as being visited by a criminal, let's just cross that bridge when we get to it, alright? It wouldn't do branding everyone you see as an enemy before they even do anything."

Hearing Nana's exceedingly carefree arguments, conveyed with such a needlessly warm-hearted smile, Squalo's fury only intensified, but there was little he could do to Tsuna's mother. As such, seemingly done with the conversation only because he was no longer in the mood, he faced away from Nana. "You're just too damn soft!" he shouted as he walked out of the kitchen, "If you do get in danger while I'm not around, don't go regretting not listening to me in the afterlife!"

He heard Nana giggle from a distance, and found himself less and less willing to stay in the Sawada household he had just entered. However, he also did not feel like warning her of his departure were he to leave, so he begrudgingly settled for killing time upstairs, cursing the fact that Tsuna would take up so much time in school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... And nobody ever figured out I-pin's gender. I really wanted I-pin to stay like in the original because I like her and I might as well since she shows up, but considering Squalo I just figured it wouldn't fly. He's scary, doesn't like extra people getting in the way of the job he's not even truly invested in; it didn't work out for me. Really sorry, I-pin! Regardless, platonic Squalo and Nana interactions always make my day, so I'm hoping they also heal your soul from the fact that I-pin won't be a reccurring character. But, who knows? She might come back some other time...?


	19. Tsuna's Test Score

Tsuna sighed. _25..._ That had been the score he had gotten on the Math test delivered today, one he wasn't very confident about. _I mean, that's more than my lousy average, but that's not really anything to be proud of..._

" **VOOOI!** What the hell is up with this score?!" _Besides, Squalo's mad at me so there's no way it could ever feel gratifying...!_ Tsuna dejectedly thought while laid on his bed with one hand over his face in an attempt to ease his migraine. Despite having studied considerably for the test, Tsuna's expectations of himself and Squalo's forced, aimless studying were abysmally low, and he was not foolishly thinking he would have a good grade under his circumstances. However, much to Tsuna's chagrin, it seemed Squalo did hope for true improvement in an environment Tsuna only saw as unproductive, and he wasn't meaning to be quiet about it. "All that stupid studying day and night, for a _25_?! What have you even been doing?! You think it'll look good on my reports that you got a score that low?! You better have a good reason for this, trash!"

From that exclamation on, Tsuna partially zoned out of the rant, thinking that could fix his headache, or even his poor ears. Tsuna thought he could improve the same way he was pushed to with physical training, but Tsuna wasn't ignored then: even if Squalo mostly laughed at his misery and taunted him for being weak, Squalo was at least not lazing around waiting for a problem he didn't even know about beforehand. Something was wrong, Tsuna noted, and it was not his fault, contrary to Squalo's belief. Cautiously, he'd let his hand slide from his face after hearing heavy footsteps approaching, and found himself unable to stay without ignoring his own trembling hands from fear.

Not without being able to finally protest against the violent maniac in his house he thought he could've begun to believe in face of the changes that he'd caused in his life. Now, however, he'd stood from his position on the bed to note Squalo's entirely resentful, condescending gaze, and scowled. "You want a reason things are going badly?" Tsuna shot back, hesitantly at first, and saw Squalo's eyes narrow as if perceiving a threat. "How about the fact that you barely teach me anything?! Maybe if you started doing that, I'd understand what I'm doing!"

"Voooi, you're blaming your own stupidity on me?! You've sure got guts! Say that again and I'll make sure that head of yours will be rolling through the floor!" Squalo countered while pointing his sword at Tsuna accusingly. "Anyone with actual smarts would be figuring stuff out on their own! If you can't follow a textbook of all things, then I doubt you'll go far in life!" Tsuna flinched from fear of Squalo. Like always.

Squalo's threats were almost routine to Tsuna. However, that didn't make them less scary than before. The more he thought about it, what sort of existence was Squalo to Tsuna? _He just barges in, leeches off of this house, works me hard with physical exercises and neglects real teaching... This is supposed to be my tutor?_ Squalo would force him to fend for himself, and Tsuna was somehow thinking the practical results would excuse his behavior; that having friends was enough of a reward. By now, even his anger was dissipating the more he mocked himself for his own ignorance, replaced by a familiar hopelessness. Tsuna would aimlessly work, and Squalo would not pay that any mind; that was the norm. Unable to feel anxiety for any retaliation from Squalo when there was nothing to look forward to in the first place, Tsuna ended up muttering reflexively, with his eyes cast downwards: "I know I'm No-Good; that's something I'm used to... Still, after having you here, actually causing changes to my life, I almost felt like believing you for a while, but..."

"I guess I expected too much out of you. I don't even know why I even thought of you all that highly in the first place."

Squalo's eyes widened in reaction to Tsuna's statement. Not even he was completely sure why, but Squalo was shocked. He felt... Challenged. Underestimated, by _Tsuna_ of all people. His only hand twitched in fury for the sheer insolence, the implication that Squalo happened to be inferior in any manner or form. "Voi..." he lowly voiced, "Get the hell over here." Squalo proceeded to walk for the table in the middle of Tsuna's room, and sat by it in a prompt fashion before motioning his sword to a seat nearby. Then, he shifted his gaze to the test resting in his hand, which he shoved onto the table before pointing at it. "We're gonna look through this whole thing, and you're gonna fix everything you got wrong, you hear me?! If you don't get anything right even with me around, you're gonna regret having looked down on me!"

"H-huh?" _Wait, really? He's going to help now?_

"Vooooi, I'm not saying it twice! Get ready, because you're not getting any breaks from this!"

Despite the threats, Tsuna's surprise seemed to take priority, as he pondered on the situation with blinking eyes: for once, Squalo was complying with something. Why that was, Tsuna was lightly assuming he'd accidentally insulted his pride, but the sense of compromise was almost to refreshing. He smiled, relieved, as if a reccurring doubt had started to quickly fade from his mind. At least, it appeared Tsuna could start believing Squalo after all. "Alright," Tsuna conceded, and saw Squalo's usual impatient, angered scowl with less fear than he used to without even noticing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You could say this is supposed to be one of those mythical 'serious moments' that could or couldn't appear every once in a while in the story. This chapter is really important, but it's also due to that that I still get really nervous about it. I remember surpassing the word limit and having to cut words, which further stressed me since I wanted to nail this moment. Though, I think Tsuna could get to this point...? He snaps at Reborn who's armed and beats him up. And, I mean, Squalo's also proud? Besides, Squalo would have to eventually take things more seriously in the academic department if Tsuna kept having bad grades since the Ninth would notice he's not having an effect so it's better off solved here...? I'm trying to get them in-character, I swear!


	20. Just Tsuna...?

As of recently, all bullying towards Tsuna had ceased. If Ryohei's influence hadn't been enough, the fact that Yamamoto now regularly spent time with him served to completely drive away those who would look down on Tsuna, as Yamamoto was one of the most popular students in school. As such, school life had become much more refreshing for Tsuna.

In comparison, somebody else was facing darker days. While Tsuna was more often seen smiling, _he_ was facing frustration; he grimaced in private and smirked to his peers. Both would lay eyes on a single girl. Her bright demeanor and cute face made her the most popular girl in school, and they had differing reasons to be interested in her. However, _he_ had failed, and Tsuna seemed to be unknowingly taking his place.

"G-g-good morning, Kyoko-chan!" Tsuna awkwardly greeted Kyoko back while both were walking to school. Since the first time he had gotten early to school led him to meet Kyoko, Tsuna had been making an effort to continue that routine so as to see her more often. So far, that had been successful, as he had been able to at least greet Kyoko almost every school day; he couldn't help but internally thank Squalo for that.

... However, despite that small success, there was a big problem. _I don't know what else to say!_ Tsuna thought in great inner panic, which partially showed through his nervous expression and trembling fists. _I mean, it's great enough that I can greet her, but I gotta say_ something _! But what if it'll only make things even more awkward?! What would Kyoko-chan like talking about in the first place?!_ Such a storm of emotions was the reccuring part of his every brief encounters with Kyoko, who tended to either keep walking forward with a cheerful smile on her face or glance at Tsuna curiously. Naturally, she would not notice how exactly Tsuna was feeling, and instead thought of how quiet Tsuna actually happened to be in comparison to what she had considered him previously.

Tsuna would only be released of the sheer awkwardness that the situation had brought upon him when Kyoko arrived at the school gates and saw Hana. "Ah, there's Hana!" Kyoko cheerfully announced as she waved at her. Then, she looked towards Tsuna with an apologetic smile. "I'll get going now, okay? Maybe we can talk tomorrow! See you in class, Sawada-kun!"

"S-see you..." Tsuna quietly said while nervously and briefly waving at her, though she had been unable to see it since she was facing forward. He saw Kyoko join up with Hana, and Hana glancing at Tsuna with a frown, but Tsuna was already in a more than gloomy state by that point. He hung his head low, thinking of his continuous failure to actually talk to Kyoko. _I didn't say anything again..._ Tsuna mentally stated, _Well, I'm already lucky to be able to walk with her in the first place, really... I'm No-Good Tsuna, after all. I guess I shouldn't be expecting any more than what I have now, even if things are looking up for me._ Then, he shifted his focus to Kyoko in general and vacantly smiled. _Either way, Kyoko-chan is so cute! It's already worth it just being next to her!_

"Hey, you," a distinctively male voice called from behind Tsuna, "underclassman." Confused as to whether he was being referred to or not, Tsuna turned around and found someone looking straight at him with a scowl. _So I really was the one being called?!_ _What does this guy want from me?!_ With spiky black hair and equally dark, sharp eyes was what Tsuna immediately assumed to be an upperclassman, one who also had a kendo sword stored within a purple, cylindrical bag. _Wait, do I know him from somewhere? He seems familiar..._ "What's your relationship with Kyoko?" His eyes narrowed menacingly, which warranted a flinch from Tsuna.

Then, it dawned on him. There used to be someone who would stick to Kyoko under the pretense of committee work, though it was obvious he was simply interested in her. For a good amount of time, he had been able to interact with Kyoko on good terms, Tsuna had noted at the time, but it seemed as if he was simply after her for her reputation. However, at some point, conversation between them had stopped completely and abruptly. Rumors about his rejection had been spread, and it had been clear he had asked her out. It had all ended in failure; it brought a sense of despair upon the students who believed to have a chance with Kyoko.

_His_ name was... "Kensuke Mochida... -senpai...?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new challenger has appeared! And his name is Kensuke Mochida... -senpai!
> 
> *cliffhangers intensify*
> 
> I also wanted to show off Tsuna being Tsuna, because I do rather not think exercising is the way to solve all social problems lol I really like writing Tsuna's thoughts, and I think it shows to be honest. It's great how much of a straight-man Tsuna is.


	21. Reborn

Meanwhile, Squalo was facing a more than unwelcoming surprise in the living room of Tsuna's house. Said surprise took a sip of the coffee most likely offered by Nana, only to leave it on the table and turn to Squalo in an almost relaxed fashion, as if he considered himself invincible. "Ciaossu," he casually greeted by his seat. Though he seemed perfectly calm and pacified, there was a hint of seriousness to his voice that someone like Squalo could easily detect. "How's your pupil been doing? I heard he's a handful."

"Vongola's hitman, Reborn..." Squalo muttered for once under the weight of his many considerations on the famous figure invading the Sawada residence, all of them negative. "Shouldn't you be teaching that Bucking Bronco over at Italy?" It was phrased as a simple question, and the first instance of Squalo's more assertive attitude as he locked eyes with the infant.

Immediately, Reborn aimed a pistol towards Squalo. "Answer my question." It hadn't been a hidden weapon, but he was fast in conjuring it out his pet chameleon, a premise already nonsensical to begin with.

Despite that, Squalo was unfazed, though scowling as he reminded himself of just who he was dealing with. "Voi, I'm not only part of the Vongola, but also its next boss' home tutor," Squalo confidently retorted, "You can't shoot me."

"I'd say the same for you, Varia's Squalo Superbi." Sparing a faint, calculated glance to Squalo's lacking left hand, Reborn remarked, "That sword is no toy." With Squalo's sword aimed at Reborn from the very beginning and Reborn's pistol now aimed at Squalo, both were at a standstill. Despite their supposed loyalties to the Vongola, one of them had reflected on his eyes someone beyond Timoteo, the Ninth boss of the Vongola, but neither were willing to acknowledge each other's stance. Their gazes were as if silent threats to each other, and as they tightened their grip on their weapons...

Both sensed another presence entering the room and lowered them instantly. "Oh my, you've met Reborn-chan already?" Nana asked without regard for what used to be the tense mood of the room, particularly because she'd just entered it without thinking there could ever be any conflict in the house. "Apparently, he's a friend from my husband's work! Isn't that just wonderful? I never knew my dear had such a cute little coworker at something as taxing as digging out oil!" Nana then clasped her hands together and her blissful smile widened simply thinking about her husband, while Squalo couldn't help but see her unfocused posture with judging, vacant eyes and ultimately turned to Reborn, finding him somehow less ridiculous than Nana at that point.

_What kind of bald-faced lie did that Iemitsu tell her...?_ "It happens," Reborn casually responded with a shrug before taking another sip of his coffee. Frustratingly so, as far as Squalo was concerned.

Squalo could not kill Reborn. Reborn could not kill Squalo. Even worse, Squalo would have to further deal with Reborn if he were to stay at Tsuna's house. Unable to even bear the thought, Squalo shouted, "Voooooi, I'm out of here! I can't stand the shitty mood of this shitty house!" Squalo shot a glare at Reborn, but it seemed only to make Reborn smirk as glinting eyes returned the intensity. "And you better be gone by the time Tsuna is back! I wouldn't want any of your influence on that brat!"

"We'll see about that," Reborn said in a purposefully vague manner, "I can't make any promises, though. It's not very healthy to be that protective towards your pupil, Squalo." Squalo was meant to feel the irony in great dosages, and he did.

It warranted him a small pause before he furiously asserted, "I do whatever I want. You hear me?!" With that, he quickly stormed out of the room, leaving Reborn and Nana to stare at the living room's entrance: while Nana's gaze was inquisitive, Reborn's was far more serious, unbeknownst to her. After hearing the door being slammed shut by Squalo, Reborn took to observing him leave with slightly narrowed eyes as he drank his coffee.

Nana softly giggled. "He might seem a little rough around the edges, but he's been doing a great job with Tsuna," she remarked so as to reassure Reborn, "I couldn't be more thankful to him." Her warm smile seemed genuine, Reborn noted, even despite the fact that she had a need to explain herself when speaking of the violent freeloader in her house. "He's also been a great help with the house chores! Having an extra pair of hands really makes a difference! Oh, but in this case, I suppose it's just one hand he's lending me... Either way, Squalo-kun has also been focusing on getting Tsuna's grades up as of late, and there isn't an afternoon he doesn't spend working with him! It's really amazing, if you ask me."

Reborn stared down at his coffee cup. It appeared as though Squalo was already a significant part of the Sawada residence. He had been living there for months, interacting with Tsuna, the future boss of the Vongola... However, Squalo did not truly belong in the house he was presently staying at, and he never intended to belong there to begin with.

The bitterness of reality, which dictated Squalo's ulterior motives, was comparable to that of the coffee he was drinking. He could only hope that the Ninth's plans, whatever they happened to be, would come into fruition instead of leading the Sawada family into ruin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wouldn't just show off the result of a cliffhanger so soon so here's Reborn! And a chapter all about Reborn messing with Squalo who is, as always, unamused. My favorite part is writing Squalo's reaction to Iemitsu's lies, but I also like the part Squalo and Reborn were both pointing their weapons at each other. I think that this chapter has a sort of duality between rights and wrongs to it in the sense that neither Nana nor Reborn have the opinions they do without a justified reason, even if one has more context than the other. It's interesting imagining myself in both Nana's and Reborn's shoes here.


	22. Tsuna's Relationship with Kyoko

"Kensuke Mochida... -senpai...?!" Tsuna stared at the upperclassman incredulously, unsure as to why he had garnered his attention in the first place. _Is it because of Kyoko-chan? But it's not like he even talks to her anymore..._

"You better have remembered that name because of the kendo club," Mochida bitterly countered, thinking back to what used to be his hard-earned popularity tarnished by rumors of his rejection. However, feeling that statement alone did not do wonders to his pride, he huffed after half a moment and opted to shake off that topic. "Whatever! Anyway, I've been watching you for these past few days." _He was stalking me...?!_ As if able to read Tsuna's mind by his blank expression, Mochida then flinched in surprise and shook his head furiously. "But it wasn't as though I was following you or anything! I just spot you while you're getting to school by pure coincidence! Don't get any funny ideas!"

Feeling the intensity of a needless death glare from Mochida on him, Tsuna recoiled and desperately uttered, "A-alright, I'm sorry!" _Seriously, what does he want from me...?!_

Said intensity in Mochida's gaze remained for a moment, as if to gauge how serious Tsuna's apology had been; Tsuna's trembling self was telling of the answer. Mochida crossed his arms and grimaced. "You like Kyoko, don't you? But you haven't made an actual move yet."

"Huh?" The mere prospect reddened Tsuna's cheeks by the second, and he struggled to speak: "Uh, w-w-well...!" _Why is he asking something like that?!_ _Wait, Kyoko-chan rejected him, so..._

_Oh, no. What if he's seeing me as a rival for some reason?! This is really bad!_ "Don't play dumb with me, underclassman," Mochida said as if offended, having believed Tsuna had attempted to lie. "It's as clear as day. What sort of guy would go to school with her every day for no reason?" _He does have a point..._ Tsuna thought as he saw Mochida's eyes narrowing almost analytically. "But you know that not many guys approach her, let alone scrawny guys like you. The type of men that get to that level are usually popular, cool guys like me." For a moment, Mochida smirked as he thought about his own greatness. _A narcissist?_ However, processing what he was actually doing in the realm of reality, Mochida scowled as he accusingly pointed at Tsuna. "Basically, it's a miracle someone like you has been walking to school with Kyoko! Men would kill for that chance!"

"K-kill?!" _Is that what he's gonna do to me?!_

"'Kill', underclassman; you know what I mean! And yet..." Mochida muttered with a small pause for added dramatic effect, "You don't speak a word to her." Furthermore, the clearly strained voice used to convey his words was more than palpable to Tsuna, who could understand that frustration better than anyone as of now. "Not even a single word, wasting your rotten luck every single morning without shame!" Again, Mochida accusingly pointed at Tsuna. "You're a disgrace to all men!"

Tsuna found himself bowing and on the verge of honest tears, for he saw great truth in those words. "Please forgive me, I'm really sorry!"

"You should be!" Mochida exclaimed before heavily breathing out, as though to release his frustrations entirely. Regardless, he was frowning at Tsuna, who was looking towards him warily. "But still, as much of a loser as you are, you're probably the one who's got the most chances at snatching Kyoko than any other student on this school."

"Huh...?" Utterly dumbfounded, Tsuna could not voice any coherent words in face of Mochida's seemingly assertive demeanor. _Is he joking? Me?_

"You heard me," Mochida said with a hint of defiance, as if entirely aware of Tsuna's expectations, "It looks like Kyoko may just be into scrawny, loser guys like you. Which definitely justifies why she rejected me in the end: I was just too good for her tastes! Women are weird like that! It's not like I was serious about her anyway, so it's better this way!" _This upperclassman's delusional..._ Tsuna ultimately thought seeing Mochida laugh victoriously for seemingly no reason, even if it was easy for Tsuna to guess it was a way for Mochida to cope with his negative thoughts on the matter of Kyoko; the melancholy of the implications was such that Tsuna was rendered silent.

Even then, it hardly compared with the nonsense Mochida was to utter next, or so Tsuna would realize: "But, in my opinion, she's way too full of herself. You just don't know because you've never actually talked to her before, but you'll wanna thank me when you do; you'd be disappointing yourself if you kept seeing her just for her looks. Besides, there's this huge 'hard to get' image from her, you know? If you think about it, she's just a girl who's kind of cute, so why should she be that unapproachable? Someone's gotta knock her off of that 'school idol' throne with a swift rejection so she can learn she's not all that after all. And you, uh..." Unaware of Tsuna's name, Mochida awkwardly paused for a few seconds before smirking once again. "Underclassman, are just the man for the job!"

... Tsuna blinked. "Wait, huh?" However, he had the slightest feeling he hadn't misheard his upperclassman.

"I'm gonna take you under my wing and have you snatch Kyoko's heart in no time, for justice! You might as well just call me 'Master' from now on!"

_**"WHAT?!"** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To quote my fanfiction.net self: "So, when it comes to Mochida, my basis is of course the first episode (and the small reference to him in the Future arc implying he turns around later on), but since that's the only place he ever appears in, I got a lot of freedom to portray Mochida and I decided to run with it... In a Katekyo Hitman Reborn manner, because I wasn't just going to have a reccurring character without a main joke! It's a little on the complicated side and Mochida's actions have a few layers to them, meaning I'm really hoping you're not finding it hard to follow from the target alone, but I think it's worth it in setting Mochida apart from the other characters so far! Either way, I'm going for a Mochida that isn't a total good guy, but isn't the pinnacle of bullying evil either, and is instead more of an insanely petty teen so hopefully that's fitting and not at all disappointing?"


	23. Mochida

"Also..." _In the end, Mochida-senpai's going home with me..._ Tsuna thought, despaired, _Why does this keep happening...?_ Ryohei and Yamamoto both had club activities today, while Mochida didn't. Seeing as the bell had interrupted their conversation, Tsuna had brought no closure to Mochida's proposition. Thus, after school had become the perfect chance for Mochida to go home with him and continue where everything had been left off. "What was your name again?"

"It's Tsunayoshi Sawada," Tsuna dryly uttered, unsure of Mochida and the current situation. In his understanding, Mochida had gotten rejected by Kyoko, and wanted vengeance by making Tsuna into a boy capable of garnering her attention to the point she'd come to like him and confess, only to earn his rejection; all of these scenarios Tsuna couldn't even dream of.

They'd still settled slowly on Tsuna's mind, while Mochida uttered with great confusion, "Tsunayoshi... Sawada...?" Then, his eyes fluttered open to maximum capacity, and his gaze shifted to Tsuna. "As in, No-Good-Tsuna?! You're that No-Good-Tsuna that's been hanging out with Ryohei Sasagawa and Takeshi Yamamoto lately?!"

"W-well, yeah..."

"Of all losers, I just had to take the biggest loser in school under my wing..." he muttered as he ran a hand through his face, seemingly to wash away the negativity. _Nothing's actually been set in stone about that yet, though...!_ "Well, it's not like I wouldn't be able to handle someone like you." Mochida then grew to smirk, even if in a strained fashion. "Besides, since you're friends with Kyoko's brother on top of that, it'll be even more humiliating!" However, Mochida was soon forced into frowning before he shot a doubtful look Tsuna's way. "I mean, I also heard you became less of a loser lately, so it's not like you're a hopeless case, right?" The question was almost too serious for Tsuna to truthfully answer, so he subtly nodded, noting his progress. Mochida considered that a positive response, and managed another smile of confidence. "Though, with me teaching you the ropes, there's no way you'd stay a hopeless case anyway," Mochida stated in cheap reassurance, "So take it easy, Sawada! You'll be rejecting Kyoko in no time!"

Reminded of Mochida's original purpose in clearer terms, Tsuna blinked in realization, only to grimace. _Like hell I'd reject Kyoko-chan of all people! I might be getting dragged around by this upperclassman, but revenge is the last thing I'm doing!_ "Uh, I never said that I'd **—**!"

"Vooooii!" Tsuna and Mochida flinched, equally surprised at the shout that'd had interrupted their conversation. "Aren't you supposed to be a social failure?!" From the horizon, leaning to the walls of a house to the right of the street was a figure only Tsuna could properly recognize treading monstrously in their direction. Said figure, Squalo, was glaring at Tsuna with quite the intensity. "So why the hell do you keep making friend after friend?! You couldn't be doing something more useless, huh?! I'll seriously cut you in three if you keep this up!"

... Mochida glanced towards Tsuna. Tsuna awkwardly frowned. "He's..." He cringed. "Supposed to be my home tutor."

"What?!" Mochida sputtered in shock, "This guy's your home tutor?!"

Taking Mochida's reaction as some form of fear, Squalo grinned and pointed his sword towards Mochida. "Voi, got a problem with that, trash?" Rather than intimidated, Mochida was simply blinking as if processing the surreal situation, and he gestured towards his outstretched arm.

"You've... got no hand holding that sword," Mochida commented in slight awe, left with little else to say. "What the hell?" _He brought it up! He brought that one thing I was trying not to talk about all this time up like it's nothing...!_

"Huh?" Similarly not expecting someone to bring up his lack of a hand, Squalo frowned and stared at Mochida as though to scrutinize him. "Hey, brat..." Squalo briefly muttered. "What's that you got in the purple bag there? It's not a damn baseball bat, is it?!" _He's thinking Yamamoto's at fault here...?!_

Mochida huffed. "Of course not. I'm the captain of the kendo club in my school. That's my sword." Mochida glanced back to said sword, and smirked, though only slightly.

Squalo narrowed his eyes, still with the intention of gauging Mochida in some way, or so Tsuna was noting. Then, condescendingly, he scowled. "Not even worth talking about," he uttered before turning around and walking away, assuming Tsuna would follow him.

Momentarily stunned, Mochida stepped back reflexively, only to angrily question, "What did you just say?! Take that back, you maniac!"

Surprisingly, Squalo stopped in his tracks. He'd noticed Tsuna hadn't been following him, but he ultimately glanced back at Mochida, gaze unusually sharp. "I don't have time to waste on people playing pretend with swords," he asserted before turning to Tsuna. "And voi, Tsuna! Get the hell moving! You better not be forgetting who was practically begging for the lessons here!"

"I didn't even beg for anything..."

_**"HUH?!"** _

"I-I mean, I'm going! Just wait up!" Tsuna dashed lightly to reach Tsuna's side, sparing Mochida a concerned glance.

Meanwhile, Squalo'd started to stomp forward without hesitation, Tsuna in tow as he exclaimed, "Thought so!"

Their pace was surprisingly fast, and it took Mochida a moment of resentful glaring into Squalo's back to realize Tsuna'd been forced to leave him behind. Even so, the current priority was Squalo his baseless statements. "That bastard..." he muttered, "Looking down on me like he knows any better..." He turned around to leave for his own house, but the dissatisfaction from not having proved himself to the intimidating stranger remained for long enough that even for that reason, Mochida couldn't leave Tsuna alone just yet. Not without eventually proving that maniac wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you mean, 'his name is Kensuke'? The next thing I know, you'll all be calling Yamamoto 'Takeshi'. 
> 
> Squalo Suffers; Mochida Edition. Now with more swords. I had lots of fun with Mochida and Tsuna's thoughts, but I also like Squalo. Just nice stuff all around. I like taking advantage of the fact that the manga and anime never even imply Mochida's a reccuring bully of Tsuna or even knows him before chapter 1 to get away from the bully portrayal. If anything, Mochida seemed more like a guy full of himself petty enough to cheat even on No-Good-Tsuna just to look good in front of Kyoko. And I just don't like writing bullies, hahaha.


	24. Squalo

_What a tiring day..._ Tsuna thought as he stretched. It was nighttime, and he had already done his homework and studied for an upcoming test. Now, he simply intended on going to bed, freed from the constant noise of Squalo. _I've got Mochida-senpai wanting me to reject Kyoko-chan, and then Squalo..._ Tsuna sighed.

"You look pathetic right now, Tsuna," a squeaky voice suddenly remarked near Tsuna, causing him to jump back in fear.

"W-who's there?!" Precisely when he asked that, something small rolled out from under his bed nonchalantly; something Tsuna could identify as an infant. He lay on the floor with a smirk on his face, wearing only the most needlessly pristine suit and fedora. "A baby?!"

"Ciaossu," the baby in question greeted. "You were busy before, so I didn't interrupt. I was under your bed this whole time."

_Even while Squalo was around?! How reckless is this baby?!_ "Uh, where are your parents? How did you even get in here?"

"I was allowed in, obviously." The baby shrugged almost as if pitying Tsuna's lacking intellect and stood from the ground to face him with an unfittingly sharp gaze. "But that doesn't matter right now, No-Good-Tsuna." _He knows my nickname?_ Tsuna's hands barely met his face from the implications. _Even this baby knows my nickname?!_ "Answer me this: what do you think about Squalo Superbi?"

"Huh? Who are you, anyway?"

"Just answer the question. You might be No-Good, but you can at least do that much."

"No, wait, it's dumber expecting me to just follow what a baby's saying, especially one that can't even treat me with respec **—** Ow, ow, ow! What the...?!" Before he could even process it, his arm had been forcefully bent behind his back, threatening to break under the baby's unbelievable strength. His speed had been nigh untraceable, and despite Tsuna's efforts to look behind him, he'd easily concluded he couldn't release himself from the attack. "I give, I give! Just let me go!"

Reborn complied and hopped back to his original position by Tsuna's bed, precisely on his line of sight, with a huff. "Ready to talk now? I don't intend on wasting more time than I need with you."

Tsuna clutched his aching arm and blinked as he noted the infant's remarkably condescending speech. "How the heck is a baby this strong...?" he begrudgingly muttered, and while Reborn would have normally graced him with a response, his thin frown predicated the silence he'd chosen to upkeep for the sake of progressing in the conversation; such was its importance. Meanwhile, Tsuna finally focused on Reborn himself with a glare, and sat on his bed. "And you wanted to know about what again, now?"

"I was asking you about Squalo," the baby said, "How's everything going now that he's here?"

_Is he Squalo's relative...?_ "Uh, well..." Tsuna grimaced, troubled by the prospect of summarizing so much time while confused by Reborn's presence. "It's been really hectic," he tentatively said, "more than it's ever been at school. I mean, it's obvious just looking at him, but he's really scary, and loud, and rude. It ends up being tiring just trying to keep up, and you never have any choice in the matter, either. Still..." He scratched his head awkwardly as he reminisced, unbeknownst to the smile on his face. "I guess I've been starting to notice that, despite all of that... My life's been changing for the better ever since he arrived, so I'm grateful for that, if anything."

"Squalo's the worst, right?" the baby lightly retorted as if stating the obvious. _Did he listen to anything I said?_ "Well, you're free to think whatever you want, but don't forget you'll have to stick up for the choices you make. As a mafia boss, your decisions will become the Family's will, after all."

"Ma, Mafia **—**?!"

"Basically, you'll have to man up one way or another, Tsuna," Reborn asserted under the shade of his fedora, hiding his precise gaze. "Though, it's not like you'll be alone then. So, don't ever start thinking you have no one's support, got it?"

"Huh? What are you even **—**?!"

"Figure it out yourself," he said, only to smirk almost fondly, akin to Tsuna's past smile when he spoke of Squalo. "See you later, Tsuna." Then, without hesitation, Reborn jumped off the window.

"W-wait!" Tsuna rushed towards it, afraid of the worst-case scenario. However, when he looked down from the window, there were no signs of the infant he had just spoken to. _Was I just hallucinating or something...?_ Tsuna closed the window and sighed. "Who was that baby...?"

He couldn't help lingering on the window for a little longer despite his actions, but he was unable to spot Reborn's tiny figure in the darkness of the night, even if he did happen to be departing from the residence. His steps silent and quick, Reborn went unnoticed even by the assassin in the house, who had left for a walk. Regardless, now aware of the Sawada family's direct perspectives, Reborn's mission was concluded, and the Ninth would soon come to know of Tsuna's real status with Squalo as his home tutor, which did align with Squalo's reports so far. Timoteo was sure to be pleased, but Reborn figured he of all people knew that Squalo's 'efforts' weren't exactly earnest, and that there were better-suited individuals for the job. Truly, there was something more to his decision, something not even Reborn was aware of.

Still, if Tsuna's current amount of subordinates indicated anything, it was that Timoteo had definitely chosen the right boss candidate, and that would likely make all the difference the day he would come to face the Varia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, there you go, the day finally ended for Tsuna; it just took 4 chapters. It's nice writing Reborn talking with Tsuna and noticing that their dynamic is really easy to write. They're not the two protagonists for nothing, I suppose. Reborn's fun to write because he's a very good mix between OP and silly that I can take advantage of, and it meshes well with Tsuna's outstanding straight-man skills. Still, Reborn ends up having a bit of a different role right now from canon, and that's interesting to explore.


	25. Mochida's Friendships

Despite the awkward nature of the recent events, Tsuna found a peaceful neutrality in the current day. He didn't complain, of course: not being able to greet Kyoko was only natural, and he could simply talk to Yamamoto in the boredom of school. Even in the early afternoon, he was walking with his friend, pretending nothing had transpired as he smiled vacantly in face of Yamamoto's inconsequential story. "So I had to take over his spot, and..."

 _ **"SAWADA, WAIT RIGHT THERE TO THE EXTREME!"**_ If not for how familiar the shout was, that smile could've even faded, but all positives had to be grasped like the thin straws they were at that point: at least it was _just Ryohei._ He reached Tsuna and Yamamoto after running at impressive speeds, only to take note of Yamamoto's presence with an earnest smile. "Oh, Yamamoto's around, too! Good to see you both!"

"Good to see you, too," Yamamoto casually uttered while easily waving Ryohei's way, and Tsuna followed suit with a lazier rendition. "We almost thought we were wrong about you being free today."

"I woke up minutes after class ended, so I was only late!" Ryohei explained, lining up with Tsuna and Yamamoto energetically. "I'm glad I caught up with you!"

"You know, that's exactly what happened to me yesterday," Yamamoto said before sheepishly scratching his head, as if troubled. "I almost thought I'd arrive to the club meeting late, so I was really on edge there."

"Sleeping in class, huh..." Tsuna reflexively muttered. _With everything I've been up to with Squalo lately, I've been doing that way more often than I used to..._

"Hey, Sawada!" Tsuna turned around after flinching from the sudden voice behind him, spotting someone familiar in the process. _M-Mochida-senpai...!_ "I didn't see you at all this morning, aren't you supposed to be going to school with..."

The moment he noticed Yamamoto and Ryohei's looks of curiosity on him, Mochida's casual stance faded along with his words, and he settled for keeping a mild distance from the three. "Hm? You knew Kensuke Mochida from the Kendo club?" Yamamoto questioned after looking towards Tsuna. "I had no idea."

"Kensuke Mochida? It's been a while since I've seen him, myself!" Ryohei commented with crossed arms, watching Mochida shift his gaze to Yamamoto.

"Takeshi Yamamoto and..." Pausing inadvertently, Mochida sent a vacant glare Ryohei's way, leading Tsuna to blink in confusion. "Ryohei _Sasagawa_..." _Wait, is he reacting to the fact that he's Kyoko-chan's brother?!_ "Looks like the rumors are true: you two have been hanging out with Sawada?"

"Are you also friends with Tsuna?"

Mochida glanced to the side with a smirk before shrugging off-handedly in light of Yamamoto's question. "More like a mentor figure, if anything." _As if!_

"A mentor figure?" Yamamoto looked back at Tsuna, whose blank expression went unnoticed by his surprised friend. "I never knew you were interested in Kendo, Tsuna!"

"What? I'm not **—** "

 **"This can't be!"** Ryohei exclaimed unaware he'd interrupted Tsuna, eyes ablaze with raw emotion. "I've been inviting Sawada for much longer than Mochida and he drifts towards Kendo?! I won't accept this reality!"

"Now, c'mon, it's not like he's joined the club yet," Yamamoto admonished, "Besides, Tsuna should do whatever he's actually passionate about, yeah?"

"But his manly spirit **—**!"

"Can you stop being so loud and let me actually explain things to you?!" Mochida snapped, "I'm not teaching Sawada Kendo! I'm doing something even more important!"

"Which is?!"

"I'm teaching him how to win at life," Mochida proudly claimed, "like the reliable upperclassman _I_ am."

"Oh, so that's what you meant. That's a pretty deep topic you're trying to teach," Yamamoto vacantly remarked, unable to imagine the notion clearly.

"More importantly...!" Tsuna finally exclaimed, finding his chance to speak only now. "Wh-what exactly are you here for, Mochida-senpai?"

"Huh?!" Mochida voiced, and glanced towards Yamamoto and Ryohei. He smiled, albeit apprehensively. "Well, I was gonna **—** Y-you know..." _Did he actually have no reason...?_ "Check up on you, yeah! I couldn't just leave you behind to deal with that maniac tutor of yours alone! I didn't even see you in the morning either, so I had to talk to you at some point!"

"So you were gonna meet up with Tsuna after school, too?" Yamamoto questioned.

Meanwhile, Ryohei hummed pensively, briefly closing his twitching eyes from the intensity before opening them to face Mochida again. "I guess I misjudged you, Mochida; sorry. I didn't know you were just looking out for Sawada," Ryohei said, offering a smile, "But that just makes things simpler! If we're all friends with Sawada, let's all go together!"

" _What?_ " Tsuna and Mochida uttered simultaneously, reacting to only one word in Ryohei's proposition: 'friends'.

Though the two were more than ready to deny that assumption, Yamamoto was quick to brightly speak for them: "Right! I'm really curious on how Tsuna and Mochida ended up meeting, too."

However, even that could be a chance for Tsuna to finally assert the malicious intentions of Mochida and end the misconceptions entirely, if only he could explain **—** "It wasn't anything special," Mochida uttered hastily with a frown, probably due to the troublesome nature of Yamamoto's curiosity. Then, to cover for that apprehension, he cleared his throat and showed a smirk. "But I guess I have no choice if you're so eager to talk to me!"

"It's settled, then!" Ryohei exclaimed in quick succession to Mochida, raising his fists to the air for a figurative victory. "Let's all walk home together!"

"Yeah!" Yamamoto's own approval thusly marked the beginning of their trek out of the school, outlined by the easygoing and rowdy mood of the two people who were seeing Mochida differently from Tsuna. To begin with, there was no perceivable reason for Mochida to have met them when he did, but it wasn't like he could say that, could he?

... Tsuna sighed, realizing that there was no escape from Mochida being his friend now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To quote my fanfiction.net self: "With this, the group has finally assembled: the cynical straight-man loser, the easygoing baseball jock, the extreme boxing guy and the petty egotistical upperclassman. They all have club activities though so you'll have a hard time seeing them together lol so look forward to more daily life for now?" Mochida is a fun foil. We did need a non-carefree guy eventually in a group comprised of Ryohei and Yamamoto.


	26. Future Plans with Dino

"I feel like my nightmares just came true..." Dino Cavallone muttered with a purely sour grimace as he gazed at his reflection on a lake near his mansion. The greenery shaded the area somewhat, and the young boss found even that darkness fitting with his welling apprehension from the newly-acquired information on the Vongola's state of affairs. "I heard the tutor for the future Tenth Vongola Boss was from the Varia, but I didn't actually think it was gonna be _him_..."

"What're you crying about when it's none of your business?" Dino couldn't see the origin of the voice from the reflection on the lake, but he easily recognized the voice, causing him to turn around with a preemptively prepared smile in order to greet his home tutor. However, Reborn, in all his young-seeming glory, stood carefree while a mound of insects rested on his face, leading Dino to flinch despite himself.

"Reborn!" Dino exclaimed, and that smile faded into a vacant frown as he reminded himself of Reborn's antics, wondering why he would even be surprised at that point. "Did you hear about the Tenth's tutor from those subordinates of yours?"

"I just checked it for the Ninth these past days," Reborn answered with a shrug, and only a few of the bugs fluttered in reaction to the light movement. Reborn pointed briefly to the flies on his face, and continued to speak: "These little guys only told me they heard the shameful whimpers of a half-baked mafia boss around this area." Then, maliciously so, Reborn smirked. "Looks like they were right."

"Come on, I wasn't doing something like that **—** " Though, upon processing the full extent of Reborn's words, Dino blinked in confusion, and silenced himself almost automatically. "Wait, you went to where the Tenth boss candidate is for the Ninth and you didn't tell me anything about it?"

"You're the one who couldn't hear me over the gattling gun being aimed at you," Reborn retorted in a carefree, almost innocent fashion, beady eyes furrowed as lightly as necessary to convey the feeling of simple helplessness that Dino would react poorly to.

"Dodging that is already hard enough, let alone listening to you with the noise it makes," Dino calmly retorted, but his glare was telling of his opposition to Reborn's clearly playful argument. "Anyway, is it true? Is the boss candidate's tutor actually Squalo?"

"Yup," Reborn casually uttered while shooing the insects from his face, "There's no doubt about that."

"... Is he alright? This is Squalo we're talking about," Dino asserted with a hint of somber desperation, reminiscing on what he did know of the Varia assassin, "I wouldn't wish that kind of tutor on anyone, especially on a middle school kid who hasn't had any involvement with the mafia so far. As unpredictable as you are, you'd still be a much better choice."

"Hmph, that much should go without saying," Reborn stated, crossing his arms as he met Dino's uncertain eyes with only strict resolve and warranted confidence. "After all, I've got actual tutoring experience; you can't even compare me with him. Besides, the Vongola family has priority over all other family alliances, so it's clearly not because of your incompetence that I'm not being sent there."

_If anything, it's surprising I got to keep Reborn at all when the next Vongola head needed a tutor,_ Dino thought glancing back to the reflection on the lake, _Squalo's prowess is impressive, sure, but Reborn is at whole other level, and his loyalty to the Ninth is undoubtable._ Assuming at least Reborn could have answers, he asked, pensive, "Then, why would the Ninth ever pick him of all people...?"

To his surprise, Reborn was silent for half a moment, as if mulling over the topic in its unstable nature. Ultimately, he uttered, "Who knows? As far as I could tell, Squalo's perfectly blended into the candidate's family, so they're apparently alright with him for now."

"They are?!"

"Though, considering the circumstances, that probably won't last," Reborn solemly added, though his expression hardly showed it, shadowed by his fedora.

Dino tensed in light of the implications, knowing well of Squalo's dangerous ways. With a frown matching Reborn's, but a gaze of clear empathy, Dino nodded. "You're right about that one," Dino said, "The Tenth boss candidate might as well have the enemy right inside his house if Squalo's acting as a home tutor. Even worse, he's got no outside support; I doubt Squalo even cares about teaching him the necessary qualities of a mafia boss." Reborn didn't talk back despite the pause Dino had left after those words, maybe because he could see the thought crossing Dino's mind then, urging him to admit to more than he currently was. In truth, Dino could see himself in the rumor of that Vongola candidate: someone who was lost on his life's course. However, unlike Dino, who at least received a well-intentioned if completely wild tutor, Tsuna was being used to the Varia's leisure.

As such, Dino's fisted hands trembled in quiet indignation, and his determined gaze plainly met Reborn's. "Reborn, to be honest, I don't think I can just leave this be," he stated, "At least, not until I see it for myself."

... Reborn smiled, and he turned around to start walking away. "Good, because I'm not through with Squalo yet. We're going there eventually whether you liked it or not, so you better keep being that motivated for your allied families."

Dino finally smiled, as well. As his agreement was only self-evident, Dino was not compelled to speak, and simply followed his tutor to whatever else he could be planning, knowing at least that the boss candidate wouldn't be left alone any time soon, and that Squalo's intentions wouldn't be so easily fulfilled under that assumption. Dino himself, for one, would make sure to eventually visit the rumored Tsunayoshi Sawada.

If he did manage to survive the rest of Reborn's hellish training, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is sooo not a reflection of my ulterior motives cough cough--
> 
> I'm not sure if it was very obvious that Reborn would just keep tutoring Dino if Squalo had his canon spot but there you go, here's your confirmation! I thought it'd be really sudden if I got Dino to do foreshadowing like this later on when Reborn's conveniently stopped by so I made it happen here. Dino is actually a really fun character to write, and his dynamic with Reborn is slightly different than Tsuna's but Dino is more composed and mature and that somehow makes it more refreshing to me. Still, when will Dino arrive? Will Dino end up surviving the hellish training? Pertinent questions all around.


	27. Tsuna, Ryohei, Yamamoto and Mochida

"Woah, is this where you usually train?" Yamamoto questioned with moderate awe as he gazed upon Namimori's mountain, and the beaten path to it like a slope stretching out before them. "No wonder your stamina's so good." Then, he smiled, impressed, and rose a thumb in Tsuna's direction. "Count me in!"

"I usually run through the entire town," Ryohei interjected by Yamamoto's side while nodding to himself. "But if you've got to go from top to bottom ten times with this rough terrain, it could actually surpass even my morning jogs in effectiveness." Ryohei's fist flew to the air, and a grin adorned his features. "Alright, it's decided to the extreme! I'll add your training regimen on top of my own for my every morning!"

... Meanwhile, directly beside Tsuna was his newly-acquired 'friend' Kensuke Mochida, whose bitter frown mirrored Tsuna's. "This is part of your training, Sawada? Is your home tutor out of his mind?" _Why are you even here, Mochida-senpai...?!_

"Voooooooi!" said home tutor shouted from ahead of the path, meters away from Tsuna and his friends, but the intensity and volume of his voice was such he sounded as if he were right next to their ears. Naturally, Squalo's mood opposed the more easygoing characters in Tsuna's group, and he scowled while pointing his sword their way. "Who the hell told you to come here, anyway?! The only brat I'm being forced to babysit is Tsuna, not you three!"

"Now, now," Yamamoto said with a casual smile, "can't we join in on Tsuna's training every once in a while?" His eyebrows furrowed with further thought, and he made a point to lock eyes with the distant Squalo. "I've thought about it before, but it's no mistake your methods are working on Tsuna. I can't help wanting to have at them, myself."

_... That brat is improving, sure, but it's not like I'm giving any thought to these exercises,_ Squalo thought, grimacing in light of the truth as he felt himself underestimated by Yamamoto, _I'm just doing enough for the Vongola not to suspect me of negligence._ "Then go try them out by yourself, you piece of trash! The last thing I want is to deal with you even while I'm training Tsuna!"

"Geez, Squalo." Yamamoto remarked, "You're so harsh."

"More like a lunatic," Mochida snidely added as he glared at Squalo. "If I'd known this guy was around, I wouldn't have come here at all." Then, he turned towards Ryohei with crossed arms. "Sasagawa, are you as air-headed as your sister? There's no way this is just some 'hang-out'!"

"What did you say just now?!" Ryohei fiercely exclaimed.

" _I_ was saying you and your sister need to watch out for how air-headed you are. Do you think I'll stand by while you're causing everyone trouble by your very personality?!"

"Kyoko and I have never caused people trouble!" Ryohei easily retorted with his fist at the same height as his shoulders, ready for conflict. _I can agree with that for Kyoko-chan, but if it's you, there's no end of trouble..._ "Besides, what's with you?! I try to include you in our hang-out, and you start complaining for no reason!"

"No reason?! How about the fact that this is that maniac's training hours with Sawada and not an actual hang-out?!"

"Come on, now, Mochida-senpai," Yamamoto reassured, "Aren't morning jogs supposed to be refreshing? Let's just take it easy and have some fun! Since everybody's together, there's no way we'll be bored!"

"Who cares about that? The problem here is how nonsensical this whole thing is! Normal people don't run across mountains more than once!" Mochida argued.

"Isn't that the interesting part, though?" Yamamoto innocently uttered.

"Not only that, but it'll be training for us! Two birds with one stone!" Ryohei shouted. "So stop complaining about that nonsense stuff and join us already!"

"You two are surreal..."

**"VOOOOOOOOOOOI!"** The four covered their ears from Squalo's shout, and dryly looked his way as he swiftly approached them. "Shut the hell up, you damn brats! If you don't leave me and Tsuna alone right now, I'll have you slashed in three!"

"W-wait, Squalo!" Tsuna shouted upon seeing Squalo brandish his sword, "I'll start running right now so just don't try to cut them up!" He then dashed forward, for the unsteady path as Ryohei and Yamamoto shouted for him to wait, following suit to amicably race.

"The hell?!" Squalo countered and turned around to spot his pupil, "Doing your actual training isn't gonna get this mound of trash out of my sight! You're just running away, you coward!" However, just as he was about to give chase, Squalo glanced behind him, noting Mochida's presence.

"You want something?" Mochida questioned with a firm glare, which Squalo processed for a few moments.

... Then, he smirked. "Hmph, not gonna join in like an idiot? Now that I think about it, you said no normal person could ever pull the training off, huh? Consider yourself lucky, then: because of how damn weak you are, you get to survive!"

"Huh?!" Before Mochida could muster words sufficient to express his anger, Squalo was already by the horizon, and effortlessly reached Tsuna and the others in mere seconds. "Wha...?!" In fact, Squalo appeared as though gliding through the terrain, and by the time he could barely be seen, Mochida could swear he'd been jumping through tree branches. _You mean that guy's not just some poser...? That he got like that by training like Sawada...?_

After a moment of seeing Tsuna become a mere shadow in the distance failing to dodge Squalo's wrath, Mochida took a hesitant step forward, and did not stop until he caught up with the rest of the group being accosted by Squalo. Though, the taunts and insults Squalo would deliver only motivated the proud youths, so they'd begun appearing regularly to accompany Tsuna regardless of his tutor's warnings, much to his chagrin.

Squalo never did notice his own personality was his downfall, however.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of those chapters that ended up surpassing the word limit really easily, just like most last ones, too. I had to cut words and a bunch of other details, but perhaps because everybody is together, there's a lot of content to be packed in here, some of it perhaps too small to notice and others that I do hope you notice, hahaha. If I had to pick a favorite part, I guess I'd choose the ending narration, though otherwise maybe Mochida; or Squalo's thoughts on his training.


	28. Kyoko's Heart

Another early morning greeted Tsunayoshi Sawada due to Squalo's initially unwarranted interference in awaking him. Meanwhile, he'd regularly remind Tsuna of his unwillingness to accompany him, but Tsuna was used to his shouting, so he was always prepared to hear that characteristic 'Voi' despite the odds. It was stressful, but his familiarity with it neutralized its effect on Tsuna, whose expression was a weary frown as half-lidded eyes surveyed the street.

His shoulder was suddenly tapped, and Tsuna flinched expecting Squalo. "W-wha...?!"

However, upon looking behind him, there stood none other than Mochida, a less scary presence than his home tutor. _In a way, it was pretty stupid of me to think Squalo would warn me any other way besides screaming..._ Tsuna thought, his expression softening ever so slightly. "Look over there," Mochida nigh whispered before pointing to Tsuna's right.

"Huh?" Tsuna followed the direction displayed by Mochida's index finger, and his eyes widened in shock. "K-Kyoko-chan...!" _She was in front of me and I didn't even notice her?! I must really be tired from training..._

"Sssh," Mochida shushed after quickly moving said index finger over his mouth. "Be quiet for a sec. We wouldn't want her to notice you yet."

"And why is that...?" Tsuna asked with a grimace. _I have a bad feeling about this..._

From behind Mochida's finger, which he then lowered, was a smirk, reinforcing Tsuna's premonition. "Because the time has finally come, Sawada," Mochida affirmed with exaggerated pride, "Today, on this very morning, you are going to walk to school with Kyoko, and you're going to have a proper conversation with her."

"I, I will...?!" Tsuna questioned in a hushed tone so as to comply with Mochida's indications, though he was very tempted to shout instead.

"Of course you will," Mochida easily responded, "As long as you listen to me, you'll have Kyoko confess to you in no time. This is just the first step into making you less of a loser with girls." _I can't believe it...! Though, Mochida-senpai does have some popularity... Would his revenge plot actually get me some advice on how to talk to Kyoko-chan...?_

"W-well, tell me what I should do, then," Tsuna uttered with clear hesitation, interpreted as rightful desperation by a snickering Mochida.

"Well said, Sawada." Mochida then pointed to Kyoko, who lay walking ahead of the two. "Now, the first thing you need to remember when you go up to Kyoko is **—** "

"Wait, I have to go up to her...?!"

"You mean you didn't use to come up to her yourself?!"

"O-of course not! I mean, what if she just sees me as a bother?!"

Despite Tsuna's protests, Mochida's eyes seemed almost lifeless as he pondered, leading even Tsuna to recoil under the sadness of the implications behind that gaze. _He's definitely starting to give up hope on me...!_ "Look..." Mochida tiredly muttered, only to scowl. "How the hell would she think you're a bother if she's greeting you herself, damn it?!"

"Sh-she's just being polite!"

"That's your cowardly spirit talking, Sawada! It's clear she would stop greeting you altogether if she doesn't like you, just like she started doing to me!" _That's just too pitiful...!_ Tsuna tried to hide the knife-sharp impact of Mochida's statement, but his gaze of pure pity was easily conveyed to Mochida; his eyes twitched from the sight. "And hey, stop looking at me like I'm just as much of a loser as you! I only got rejected because Kyoko has no taste!"

"Wait, though, weren't we supposed to be quiet because Kyoko-chan could hear us...?!"

Mochida flinched. "Sh-shut up! None of this would've happened if you weren't more hopeless than I thought!" _Says the one who got rejected!_ "Thankfully for us, Kyoko's a huge air-head, so there's a chance she didn't hear a thing I said about her lack of taste in men. Let's check before we send you out," he asserted, "if she's heard us, she'll probably show signs of it somehow. If everything's in the clear, we can finally get you to start going up to her."

"H-huh? So suddenly?"

"How else are you gonna snatch her heart, Sawada? If you can't even go up to her, you can't make any progress."

_He's right..._ Regardless, Tsuna cast his eyes on the ground as he reflected on the mere action with trembling hands. Then, as if to seek mental support from her figure, Tsuna looked up in Kyoko's direction and spoke: "B-but, it's not like someone like me can actually **—** Huh?"

"What?" Mochida followed Tsuna's gaze, who was unable to finish his statement when he finally noticed Kyoko was no longer there. Furthermore, the lightly-colored walls of Namimori Middle School were noticeable and relatively close by, much to the surprise of Mochida and Tsuna. "We're at school already? Where's Kyoko?"

"She's probably met up with Kurokawa while we were talking, since that's what usually happens when she's close to school," Tsuna bleakly explained as he looked through his surroundings. When he did manage to find Kyoko, she was already entering the school building accompanied by a dark-haired girl; Hana Kurokawa. He weakly motioned their way. "There..."

Mochida squinted when he noted Tsuna's gesture, and his frown deepened when he saw Kyoko and Hana disappearing into the building. He could not help but cringe from their first failure, caused only by absent-mindedness. "Then again," Mochida weakly offered, "that means she probably didn't hear us talking about her. That's a good thing... I guess."

"Y-yeah..." Tsuna shifted his gaze to Mochida, and saw in him eyes just as wilted as his own, adding to the sour mood. _Now that I think about it, Mochida-senpai lives close to the school, so I only ever see him when I'm almost there unless he's going all the way to my house..._

Mochida smiled, though it was a strained attempt. "We'll try again near your house, alright...?"

Tsuna could not bear to deny the request. He nodded, and the two headed to school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And THIS is where the fic stops being a complete repost and start updating at the same pace as the fanfiction.net counterpart! As a rule of thumb, I try uploading at least one chapter a month, sometimes multiple, but there's no set schedule. I have a huge backlog of chapters, though, so there's no need to worry about me having a lack of inspiration or writer's block. If I neglect posting within the month, it's probably because I got distracted with bigger projects. This story is short, fun and easy to write, so I have a lot of fun with it!
> 
> Anyway, this is definitely the chapter that has the cliffhanger from before pay off in some aspect, hahaha. So begins Tsuna and Mochida's journey in trying to have Tsuna talk with Kyoko properly? I love writing these sections, not gonna lie.


	29. Ryohei's Personality

"Sawada! The boxing club needs you!" The exclamation was certainly not unheard of by Tsuna, but Ryohei had his better days, in which he wouldn't be as insistent. As far as Tsuna could tell, it depended on his mood, or on what Tsuna happened to be doing at the time. Now, on a weekday Yamamoto happened to have baseball practice, Ryohei hazarded the risky action of being in the Sawada residence careless of Squalo's wrath, and was accosted by the reality that Tsuna was doing homework as he talked to the two, possibly in sympathy for the boring work. Tsuna himself saw it as routine, and was instead wearier of the claim that boxing would be a better option to add to his busy schedule.

Tsuna suppressed the urge to sigh. _Not again..._ he thought dejectedly in light of needing to look up to Ryohei from the other side of the table to argue back hesitantly as he always did, knowing fully that would yield him no results. "What's your problem? Isn't it clear Sawada doesn't wanna join?" Mochida retorted vacantly with crossed arms, sat near Tsuna with a frown as he glared Ryohei's way. _He's defending me...?!_

 _Wait, why is Mochida-senpai even here...?_ Tsuna's widened eyes had narrowed quickly with each blink processing Mochida's first time in his house despite his vague status as his friend. Meanwhile, Ryohei's face scrunched up in confusion. "Huh?! That's ridiculous! Sawada's just in the middle of discovering his extreme passion for boxing while faring through the trials and tribulations of youth! That's why he hesitates!"

"He's hesitating because you're too loud," Mochida effortlessly argued with a roll of his eyes, condescension exuding from his stance. "He can't even speak over you."

"What?!" Shocked by the mere prospect, Ryohei turned to Tsuna with eyebrows furrowed in excessive concern, locking eyes with Tsuna's confused, panicked gaze. "Is that true, Sawada?!" Ryohei questioned in desperation, "Were you only not joining the boxing club because I was being too loud to let you say you agree?!"

"N-no, Mochida-senpai means **—** "

"I mean you're so loud Sawada can't even tell you to shut up!" _And he's also speaking over me! That wasn't even what I wanted to say, either!_ While Tsuna's eyes were lifeless from his resignation, Mochida had leaned forward as if more invested, fist over the table. "Seriously, why do you keep calling me for stuff like this, anyway? Where did you even get my number?"

"I asked Kyoko!"

Mochida's face was flat on that very table the moment he heard the name.

Even a wronged Tsuna couldn't help but give his mental condolences, while Mochida twitched lightly moments afterwards in a feeble attempt to recover from the implications. "But every time I call you, you only come to complain for no reason! Why do you show up if you're so unwilling?!" However, Ryohei had continued to speak just as Mochida was using his hands as support over the table to raise his face, and he froze then.

"Huh? W-why I show up?" Mochida tensed realizing his apprehension, scowling Ryohei's way. "Answer my question first, will you? Why do you call me over?!"

"Isn't that obvious?! You're Sawada's friend! It would be stranger if I didn't include you!"

"A-and what about Yamamoto? You didn't call him here!"

"That's because he shows up even when I don't call him!" Ryohei countered, "Besides, I don't know his number!" _Then there's no situation where you've ever called him in the first place...!_ Tsuna thought in the background of a blinking, distraught Mochida who cast his gaze to the table with deep thought.

"Uh, Mochida-senpai...?" Concerned by his unexpected silence, Tsuna had prodded him for once, but Mochida did not show signs of having heard his question.

"Is he alright, Sawada? I think he might be piling up extreme stress," Ryohei stated as he nodded to himself, though he frowned. "That would justify why he's always so angry."

"I don't think that's it..." _It's more like you remind him of Kyoko-chan..._

Finally, Mochida looked back at Ryohei with a smirk, contrasting with his previous analytical self. "Hmph! Try all you might, but you'll never let my guard down with reasoning like that! I've seen through you already!"

"But I'm not transparent!"

"Don't play dumb, Sasagawa! The only thing that's ever motivated you is the boxing club! But I'll have you know there's nothing that could possibly make me quit Kendo, no matter how you try to act towards me! Sawada and Yamamoto may be easy to fool but I'm no pushover you can convert as you please with your oblivious front! I know exactly why you've been hanging out with them, and me, too!" Mochida fervently claimed, only to snicker victoriously. "As expected of someone who's related to Kyoko...!"

Conversely, Ryohei faced Tsuna, grimacing as he said, scratching his cheek in confusion, "I think he just mentioned my sister for some reason, but what is he even talking about? Do you know something, Sawada?"

Tsuna shook his head. "Not a thing..." _Whatever it is, it's probably nonsense, though._

Regardless of their words, Mochida continued to laugh to himself, thinking he had surged victorious over Ryohei's cunning scheme, devised to surrender him to the side of the Sasagawa's inferior boxing club. Tsuna and Ryohei had eventually shrugged their shoulders in regards to his behavior, Tsuna himself theorizing it a side effect of his compulsion to hate anything Sasagawa. Though, as he listened to Ryohei and Mochida bicker among themselves, he wondered where Squalo was to shout and shoo them off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I'd like to thank the people who gave out the 18 kudos, the 13 subscriptions and the 3 bookmarks; you know who you are and you have my gratitude! Anyway, I didn't want to deviate too much from my fanfiction.net author's notes at first but now I think it wouldn't be fun if I just copied it every time and instead I'll just do what I've been doing all this time which is giving off original author's notes for this and copy from fanfiction.net the stuff I think I can't rival in here. 
> 
> Whatever the case, this target took a while (next target hopefully will be out tomorrow by the way) and underwent a bunch of changes in content, but the main point's Ryohei and Mochida interacting. I'm personally still proud of that part Mochida dies when he hears Ryohei got the number from Kyoko lol but then again it might just be me. I really just wanted to expand on what I'd brought up by the previous chapters about Ryohei and Mochida and Mochida happens to still be carrying the trauma of rejection ^^'


	30. Another Assassin

"Voi..." A dark alley, part of an almost lifeless street. Even with the sunlight brightening the rest of it, the tall buildings shadowed that particular blind alley, and would've almost camouflaged the elite Varia officer if not for his silver hair. However, he was blocking the man's only passage, as he was faced with a dead end.

Were the man before him a normal mafioso, he could've even reasoned to run past him. It was the only way to escape his blade, and the only way out of the nightmare the dark blind alley was structuring simply due to that man's appearance. Contrary to the obscurity of the rumors surrounding the mysterious identity of the Vongola heir's home tutor, the swordsman before him was none other than the well-known Second Sword Emperor, Squalo Superbi; and that was enough to spell his demise.

He'd thought himself a fairly capable sniper before: in fact, he had attempted to shoot the boss candidate from such a long range he doubted even the supposedly strong home tutor from the Vongola would note his presence from the top of the building's roof. The more he thought about it, the more he regretted having been too focused on finding the perfect spot to aim at the next Tenth boss of the Vongola rather than researching who exactly he was dealing with.

When he did see the blackness of his clothing through the scope in a blink of an eye, only reflexively jumping away, he knew that he was dealing with someone whose physical prowess and fighting ability far surpassed a normal human's. He'd immediately surrendered, but the action was in vain. It was in vain, for he had been discovered by a bloodthirsty assassin; one of his ilk. Despite his efforts, he was unable to avoid him when he attempted to escape. He was cornered, forced into the alley, and a sword was pointed dangerously close to his neck. "Which Family are you from?"

The question was simple, but the hardest of all to answer for any mafioso. The swordsman in front of him was probably aware of that, but he was by no means giving the man any other choice beyond giving a response. However, he knew the consequences that came with exposing his Family to someone of the Vongola, the most powerful mafia Family as of now. He pressed his lips shut despite his fear, and closed his eyes as though to deny any trace of interaction with the swordsman. "So you're not gonna answer me?"

A moment passed, but the man had chosen not to speak. Now, he couldn't see his enemy's expression, though he was sure his glare was intact, intense and sharp from experience alone. "Abiding by the Omerta now, are we? You should know what'll happen to you if you don't spill." _You would've killed me even if I told you,_ the man briefly thought, which further fueled his resolve not to budge. "So, if you're staying silent like that, it's because you wanna die by my sword. Well, wish granted!" The sword distanced itself from his neck, but he knew it was not because he was willing to spare his life. Instead, he was preparing to swing his sword. His eyes were closed, so he tried to think of better days.

When his head dropped from his neck, Squalo Superbi looked down the body with a scowl. "I never liked interrogations, anyway," he added far too late within the silence. _Could've put up some more of a fight if he's supposed to be an assassin. It's not like I have fun any other way in this damn dump._ Briefly, faint images of a running Tsuna flashed through his mind, panting in needless exhaustion, but no longer complaining. As if already adapting to the sadism Squalo himself deemed useless, his training was no longer resisted; he'd simply accomplish the goals established before him wearily. Squalo had nearly forgotten the corpse nearby in need of inspection with his thoughts, and his mood soured further when he squatted. _  
_

"Hmph..." Finally reaching for the corpse, frown thin with little regard for his actions, he erased the pitiful mental images, focusing on searching the assassin's body to have some means to report the culprit's identity to the Ninth, who would be naturally aware of the matter. Though there was a preference for capture claimed in his letters, it seemed Squalo could find solace in killing them with justifications like self-defense before a sudden attack; dubious for someone of his skill, but there was no Reborn now to dismantle the lie.

Either way, the last thing Squalo could allow, ironically enough, was danger to befall Tsuna. Weak as the boy was, he would surely stand no chance: as part of a training plan meant to develop him in an all-rounded fashion, Squalo had urged as such in letters outlining a tutoring method he had truthfully invented on the spot. Thankfully, the Ninth was very receptive of his methods, so Squalo could continue awaiting the perfect time and plan to release his true boss, fending off parts of Tsuna's life Tsuna himself was unaware of.

Hours were spent on disposing the body and clearing the area so none would suspect the scene had ever transpired, but the rest of the daytime was reserved for the most troublesome part: writing the report, far away from Tsuna's sight. Afterwards, after the reminiscing of where he belonged that would ensue simply from the small return to his roots, Squalo would return as though normal, inwardly mocking the ignorance predominant in the Sawada residence.

That day, too, was no exception.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in b4 I lose all my readers due to edge-- (this had a point, I swear!)
> 
> Also, since the last target, this story got 5 kudos and 1 subscription, which all have my gratitude! This is the chapter where you're reminded of the fact Squalo isn't even trying to be Tsuna's second dad despite the odds ='D I wanted it to shed some light on another angle of the circumstances so it was more of an exposition chapter than anything, even with concepts like Squalo not being publicly known as Tsuna's home tutor (Dino was an exception here because he's close on the alliance but this assassin was outside the Vongola in general) among other tiny things but there's also nothing quite like writing a darker Squalo, hahaha.


	31. Tsuna's Perception

The front door swung open with great force, a clear signal that Squalo was finally home. "Welcome back, Squalo-kun!" Nana shouted from the kitchen, "Dinner's almost done, by the way!"

"Got it!" The door was slammed shut after he shouted that, and he walked towards the other direction, where his pupil probably resided. Squalo stomped for the living room, and quickly found Tsuna on the couch. "Voi, Tsuna!" Tsuna flinched at once and straightened his slouched position due to the noise, even if part of him had expected it already. "I'm back, so you better have done some homework or whatever!"

"S-Squalo..." Tsuna grimaced as his first reaction, only for his expression to soften as he fully processed his home tutor's presence and the workload it implied. _He doesn't even know what kind of homework I have..._ "Welcome back, I guess..."

"Voi, what's that greeting supposed to be? I could barely hear you from here!" Squalo retorted despite his lack of a need for a proper greeting, evidenced by the smirk on his face.

Generally, it was better to ignore Squalo's blatant sadism, so Tsuna instead asked with curiosity, "Uh, what were you doing while you were gone, by the way?"

While he wasn't sure what else he was expecting out of Squalo, Tsuna was quick to sense the fervor of Squalo's glare while he pointed his weapon dangerously near Tsuna. No matter how much he had adapted to Squalo's presence, however, Tsuna never ceased to initially cower before that gesture. "Where I go and what I do is none of your damn business, you hear me?!"

"I-I get it, I get it, just put the sword down!"

"And why'd I have to listen to a brat like you?! You can barely tell me anything without pissing your pants! If anything, just you being able to tell me anything is enough of an achievement!"

As if by instinct, too fast for even Tsuna to process it, he argued with anger towards Squalo, "Well, none of that would happen if you weren't loud and always failing your sword around!"

"Voi, you're blaming me for how much of a wimp you are?!" Squalo easily countered in turn, flailing his sword about, "You should consider yourself lucky I don't slice you in three with this!"

"Th-that's just because you can't! Weren't you sent to make me a mafia boss?!"

Then, strangely enough, Squalo's frantic movement slowed to a stop. In his decreasing smirk was the faintest hint of wry composure, and narrowed eyes locked onto Tsuna's. "What, finally interested in being one now?"

Unaware of the subtle shift in Squalo's mood, or even the real weight behind the topic at hand, Tsuna exclaimed, "As if! There's no way I'd ever wanna be involved with the mafia of all things! E-even if you're scary!"

As such, it came as a surprise that before shouting as he pleased, Squalo took a few seconds to think. "Hmph, that so...?!" Loud as always, albeit now grinning, he lowered his arm and, consequentially, his sword. "Well, as you are, you wouldn't survive for a second in the mafia world! Hell, it'd take you more than your full lifespan just to whip you into shape!"

"Good! I don't wanna be fit for any kind of mafia world, anyway!"

"Then pray the Ninth finally sees the light and takes me out of this job, because that's the only way we're getting rid of each other while we're still alive!" Squalo said similarly to Tsuna, but amusement was replaced by frustration in the indignant-seeming wording, equally belied by his creasing eyebrows.

Meanwhile, above all he could question about a topic he rarely talked about with the one person who embodied that situation, Tsuna noted again that Squalo's stay was involuntary. _Well, he did apparently get forced into it by the Ninth, whoever he is,_ Tsuna thought, _Still, if he's like that, I doubt I'd wanna meet him._ "Tsu-kun, Squalo-kun! Dinner's ready!"

"Oh, that was fast," Squalo vacantly voiced after turning around, preparing to head for the kitchen. However, reminding himself of Tsuna's existence, he looked behind him and frowned. "Anyway, after we're done eating, you better show me the exercises you were doing! You've got a test next week, right? If I find you getting a grade any lower than 100 with me actually bothering with you, consider yourself dead!"

"A-a hundred? But that's **—** "

"Voi, don't go saying it's unreasonable again!" Squalo fiercely exclaimed without warning, rendering Tsuna silent, blinking in surprise. "Remember the time you said going up the building was unreasonable? Now you're going up mountains! So shut up and give me something good to write on my report for once!"

Only then did Squalo leave the living room, and he spared Tsuna no glance, expecting him to simply follow suit for the sake of his mother's cooking. However, awed, Tsuna's wide eyes remained fixated on Squalo's back as he thought on his words for a moment, unwilling to move. They brought memories: memories of a time he barely knew the man named Squalo Superbi, who he hardly even acknowledged as his home tutor; a time Tsuna was unfamiliar with his violent ways; a time when he was all alone, and when he wasn't enjoying his training with friends who acknowledged a growth spurred precisely by the scary man he previously wanted out of his house.

He did not want to become a mafia boss. That fact remained clear. Still, if asked whether Tsuna would necessarily want to part ways with Squalo, just as he had been insinuating before... He wasn't all too sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last chapter, this story got 3 subscriptions, 7 kudos and 3 bookmarks; thank you very much! It's not noticeable here because I haven't uploaded it to this site yet, but there's a chance either real life or the other fic I'm writing (which is huuuuuuge and complicated so I held back on putting it here for now; it's not a KHR fic by the way much sorry) gets me delayed; in this case, it was a mix of both (also I just got out of being sick yaaay).
> 
> Anyway, maybe this should've been called Tsuna's Self-Esteem instead of Tsuna's Perception, but somehow I mean this in a good way. There's a super weird contrast between this chapter and the previous as expected but also within this chapter itself because I don't know, Squalo doesn't like nice things. You'd think I have a lot to say here but the things I do have to say about it are evident in the text, and the stuff that isn't enters the realm of spoiler content so all I have is witty jokes about Squalo being accidentally supportive; sorry? ='D


	32. Tsuna's Test Score Yet Again

"VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIII!"

Two weeks later, Squalo took his test sheet away without mercy, and briefly challenged Tsuna's uncertainty as to whether he wanted his tutor to continue staying in the Sawada residence or not from the noise he made alone. "I, I know this isn't the one hundred you wanted, but **—** "

"You're damn right it's not the one hundred I wanted," Squalo asserted over Tsuna as he pointed to the grade written on the test sheet in red with the tip of his sword, "This isn't even a passing grade! How the hell did you get yourself a 45 after I went out of my way to tell you how it's done?!"

"Well, most of the stuff we went over wasn't actually on the test **—** "

"Voooooi, no excuses, you piece of trash! If you're not prepared for anything that comes at you, you're as good as dead!" Squalo fiercely countered while Tsuna caressed his ringing ears. _It's not like Squalo isn't right this time around, though; I'm just taking everything out on him..._ Tsuna cast his eyes on the ground, thinking back to Squalo's words two weeks ago. They had almost made him think he could accomplish something, if only he tried. When Tsuna stepped into the classroom with Yamamoto, his mind was filled with expectations, for once.

 _But then again, Squalo did say he'd need a whole lifetime just to make me improve,_ Tsuna thought with fisted hands, _I guess I'm just No-Good all the way until the end..._ And even that, he noted dryly, was just the excuse of an ordinary loser; Tsuna grimaced. "Hey, are you sulking right now?"

"I'm frustrated," Tsuna quickly responded in a low voice, leading Squalo to raise his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Huh? Frustrated? A tantrum isn't any better than sulking!"

"I wasn't expecting a 100, but I at least thought I could get a passing grade for once...!"

Silence settled in the room. Tsuna had yet to look Squalo in the eyes. However, Squalo was staring his way intently, almost vacantly so. "Hmph," Squalo uttered, "So what? I just told you I'm not gonna take any brat's tantrums."

Tsuna sighed. "I'm sorry..." _I guess I can at least be proud of getting a grade better than Yamamoto's,_ he thought, _And it's way better than my average, if anything._ Tsuna then lay down on his bed, as though tired.

... Feeling Squalo's glare directed his way, Tsuna immediately turned to Squalo while on the bed, and gulped. _Is he gonna scream at me some more...?!_ "Voi, and what the hell do you think you're doing?!" _I shouldn't have even asked...!_ "This grade isn't going up by itself! We're starting over!"

"Huh?" Tsuna assumed a sitting position on top of the bed as wide eyes settled on a scowling Squalo.

Squalo's gaze, however, furrowed as it always was when he was angry, did not lie. "You heard me!" Squalo plopped down by the table in Tsuna's bedroom before shouting, "You're studying, and I'm gonna make sure you get everything right this time around!"

"R-really?"

"You thought you'd get away after I bothered wasting my time on this?! You're getting that better grade now, whether you like it or not!" Squalo affirmed with a scowl while pointing his sword to presumably Tsuna's seat by the table, opposite of his. "Now get your lazy ass over here and let's start this over! If you can improve your grade by twenty points in a bunch of weeks, you sure as hell can get me double that improvement in a bunch of months! And if you don't **—** "

"You'll slice me in three...?"

"Voooooi, don't interrupt me while I'm threatening you, you cheeky brat!"

 _He never actually hurts me, anyway._ Tsuna found the corners of his lips stretching lightly to form a faint smile, and he slowly stood from bed saying, "To be honest, I thought you'd just give up and stop trying to teach me."

"Who said I haven't given up on you already? You're a hopeless case if I've ever seen one!" _I'm a hopeless case, but you try to teach me anyway?!_ "You don't have even a smidgen of talent in being a mafia boss! You think I'm expecting a loser like you to get there?!" _I don't wanna be a mafia boss, but the way he's saying it still pisses me off...!_

 _And I wasn't even talking about being a mafia boss..._ Tsuna walked for his desk to take his Math and Japanese textbook, along with a notebook of his own. Just as he grabbed onto a pencil, however, he blinked in surprise. _Wait, does that mean that I'm a hopeless case to him only at being a mafia boss? Then..._ Tsuna headed for the table with slow steps, warranting even Squalo to turn around, wondering why he was taking so long. _To Squalo, I'm not actually a hopeless case...?_

"Voi, what are you standing around for?! Get over here already!"

"Right...!" Tsuna smiled again, and sat next to Squalo without hesitation.

Squalo, who noted somewhat the change in Tsuna's attitude, frowned deeply, almost in disgust. "Voi, what're you smiling for? This isn't gonna be any walk in the park!"

Regardless, Tsuna's eerily good mood was not erased by such words, and Squalo resigned to ignoring it, as his usual attitude would be enough to sour Tsuna's mood. Unbeknownst to him, Tsuna was already far past taking in the regular insults, and simply took from Squalo what he knew his tutor truly meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last chapter, this story got 1 kudo and 2 subscriptions; thank you very much! Official stuff I talked about in the fanfiction.net counterpart was that since I actually have a backlog of around 30 chapters right now (I'm I think at around chapter 55 btw) but am still super scared of running out of chapters, I'll hopefully keep uploading monthly (individually or in batches) until my backlog's down to 10 chapters: when that happens, I'll only upload a chapter after finishing another (or more) to compensate (so imagine I upload chapter 50, to upload chapter 51 I'd need chapter 61 done).
> 
> Anyway, my favorite part is how having Squalo around as a tutor makes Tsuna appreciate proper studying and learning due to the conditions he's placed in, so I effectively broke Tsunayoshi Sawada through character development lol At least, I hope I've been getting him in-character... 0.0 I've been trying my hardest to get all characters in-character, especially Squalo and Tsuna, so uuh hopefully I'm doing and will keep doing a decent job at that...?


	33. Kyoko's Heart Revised

"Alright, Sawada!" Mochida exclaimed to Tsuna the moment he'd left home to walk for school, marking the longest walk together Mochida and Tsuna would experience. "This time, you're going up to Kyoko for sure!"

"You, you really think I can do this, Mochida-senpai...?"

"Well, you're not getting her to like you if you can't, that's for sure!" Tsuna flinched under the cheerfully conveyed truth, his shoulders slumped even as Mochida patted his back for reinforcement. "Besides, she already greets you by herself and lets you walk to school with her, right? Then there's nothing to fear here. Just greet her, and try talk with her yourself. Show you got some initiative for once, Sawada."

"I-initiative... Me?"

"Come on, it's been clear for a while now that you're not a complete loser anymore, and she likes you enough she can stand being with you even though you don't tell her anything. There's just no way you're gonna fail at this, Sawada. Trust your master." _I didn't even agree to you being my master..._ Tsuna thought as he blankly eyed Mochida's smirk.

"Still, I don't know... What if I screw up somehow? If she's gonna start hating me, I'd rather just not try anything..." _She wouldn't like someone like me, anyway..._

"If she starts hating you, we'll just find another loser and get our revenge!" _Anything but that!_ "But seriously, did you hear anything I said? You're the one who's got the most chances with Kyoko. Besides, you've got _me_ sticking up for you. How could you ever fail?" _Well, you're the guy Kyoko-chan rejected..._ Mochida tapped his shoulder. "Speak of the devil and it comes; look over there."

"Huh?" Tsuna blinked in surprise after noting the presence of his crush, yet again from the right, ahead of the two as she walked slowly, carefree. "K-Kyoko-chan..."

"Here's your chance, Sawada," Mochida stated in a low voice to make sure Kyoko wouldn't hear them. "You can't hesitate now. If you don't take a step forward, how will she? It's now or never, my apprentice."

"W-wait, I gotta go now...?!" Tsuna whispered in panic, enough for his voice to crack. "I can't just do that. I'd need to be mentally ready for something like that. I mean, I'd be talking to **—**!"

"Stop overthinking it and go up to the woman already...!" Mochida ordered before relentlessly pushing a trembling Tsuna forward.

"Woah...!" Tsuna almost fell due to the abrupt force pressed on his back, but he managed to keep himself standing by stretching both of his arms outwards just in time, as he had done in other occasions throughout Squalo's training. He glanced back in pure desperation, like a puppy being abandoned by its owner, only for said hypothetical owner to shoo him away with a smile. _I'm done for... I actually gotta approach Kyoko-chan myself..._

_But... It's Kyoko-chan!_ Tsuna gulped, turned towards Kyoko, and took meek steps in her direction despite his mind's adversity. With every step, his heart beat faster, thinking of the precise words to say to Kyoko were he to really approach her; what kind of expression to make. Conversation with Kyoko was already at a level of its own when Tsuna was busy with such thoughts, but it was worsened by the anticipation.

However, every step counted; he grew closer to Kyoko in distance. Now, he was almost at arm's length from her, and he knew it would be better to greet her before getting too close, since he could scare her otherwise. _Okay... It's... Now or never..._ Noting himself still trembling in pure fear, he shook his head. _I'm so doomed **—**_

**"VOOOOOOOOOII!"**

The exceptionally loud noise had Kyoko turn around from surprise, causing Tsuna to jump back. "Waaah!" Kyoko was before him, and much earlier than he would've wanted; Tsuna gulped.

"Hm? Sawada-kun?" _She noticed me! I'm done for! She just noticed me!_ Kyoko blinked in curiosity, only to smile. "Good morning!"

"G-g-good morning...!" Tsuna greeted back using the remains of his mental strength, though he was already starting to hear the sound of thundering footsteps. "Uh..."

"By the way, isn't that Squalo-san?" Kyoko asked as she pointed behind him, and Tsuna very reluctantly followed her hand's direction.

From a distance, Tsuna could spot Mochida, despaired: his hands were covering his face, as though he couldn't bear the situation. _I thought I was done for, but not like this...!_ Meanwhile, Squalo was closing in on Tsuna and Kyoko with an outrageous walking pace. "S-Squalo...!"

"You forgot your lunch, trash!" Squalo announced before shoving a lunch box towards Tsuna, whose chest lightly ached from the force of the act.

"Th-thanks..." Tsuna lifelessly muttered.

"Voi, you better be thankful! If your mother weren't so damn persistent about giving it to you, I would've just eaten it myself!" Tsuna blinked awkwardly in response to such a statement, only glance at Kyoko. _What kinda stuff are you saying in front of Kyoko-chan...?_ "Anyway, don't take too long getting home! And don't bring your stupid friends either!"

"Yeah..." Tsuna answered hollowly while watching Squalo walk home as fast as he had approached Tsuna, unwilling to chat. After seconds, only Mochida's anguished figure remained firmly in sight, leaning on a house's fence for support. Kyoko, however, seemed to be oblivious to his existence.

Kyoko giggled. "You must have a loving family," she cheerfully remarked while eyeing Tsuna's lunch box, wrapped in a light green cloth.

... Tsuna was unable to give her a response, and the only words he spared for her on his path to school were a simple goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last chapter, this story got 12 kudos, 4 subscriptions and 2 bookmarks, all of which I'm grateful for! This time on Tsuna and Mochida's Misadventures, Squalo shows up to render their efforts useless! I mean, technically Tsuna could've just taken the chance to talk Kyoko after she noticed him, but his interference ruined the mood, yo. Rather, Tsuna is a socially awkward dork and Mochida is another dork who despairs in the midst of failures this sad, hahaha. Hopefully Tsuna and Mochida will step up their game without incident?


	34. A Rice Cooker

The Namimori Third Street, home to the Sawada household's most frequented shops. Since her son was at school and she would hardly have him take up her own duties, it was Nana Sawada who shopped for all essential goods for the high-quality dishes she put out consistently, a feat of its own. However, now, she was here for a different reason.

"Vooooi, out of my way!" Squalo sunk into the crowds of middle-aged women, forcefully pushing the ones in front of him aside with the courage inherent of a true warrior. Nana could not help but watch that in pure admiration, especially as his intimidating presence managed to have the crowd disperse ever so slightly. In the battlefield that was shopping for home appliances on sale, Squalo seemed practically apathetic when he took the famed rice cooker from the tallest spot in the shelves with one hand, and held it with ease.

A half-off rice cooker was an excellent deal; one Nana could not pass up in face of her old, nearly malfunctioning one. Seeing the miracle that was Squalo, fighting off women her age without any traces of embarrassment, bringing with him the object of her desires with an expression hardened by the scars of war, Nana squealed in joy. "Great job, Squalo-kun! You outdid yourself!"

Admittedly enough, Squalo had not been particularly proud of his actions. As far as he had seen, he simply shoved some women aside and almost slashed them before taking a rice cooker. All things considered, the last thing Squalo would want out of the Sawada residence was for Nana's cooking to be impeded in any manner. It went without saying that there was nothing simpler to a Varia elite, outstanding in undertaking jobs none wanted or could accomplish, than grabbing a rice cooker. Even so, no praise was wasted on a figure as worthy as Squalo, and he smirked. "Hmph, this is nothing! Anything else you need or what?!"

Nana giggled in pure satisfaction earned by her almost unfair victory over the housewives seeking to take the last of the home appliances, and glanced around the shop in hopes of seeing through the aisles her rivals were obstructing. "My, oh my, I was only thinking of the rice cooker right now, but with a helper this reliable, I feel invincible in here!" Nana remarked, raising a fist with conviction. "Why don't we look around and see if we can spot anything else we might be forgetting?"

"Voi, I'm not your helper or whatever! If there's nothing else we actually need from this packed store, we're out of here!" Squalo countered, gesturing towards the exit with his sword. That area was perhaps the most vacant, and, as a result, the most appealing for Squalo, who now frowned considering the implications of remaining in the packed store.

Nana, meanwhile, blinked as though dumbfounded "Well, if you insist, we could always leave, but..." She paused and averted her gaze, but her smile was almost devious in the way it widened, and Squalo arched an eyebrow in reaction to the display. "Considering all the products I could get my hands on to make cooking easier on me, I could probably give you better food if we just made the most out of this day."

Then, Squalo froze. He pondered over Nana's proposition...

... He realized he was being tricked, and exclaimed, "Voi, if I'm not your helper, I'm your dog now?! You're not gonna get me to do anything you want by bribing me with food of all things!"

"Was it that obvious?"

"Voooi!"

Nana giggled once more. "Now, now, I was just kidding, don't you worry," she said in a carefree manner as she waved a hand around. "Besides, with the way Tsuna's been improving, I couldn't possibly give you that much trouble if you don't want to." Now, she smiled gently, her naturally clear gaze locked onto Squalo's; Nana's presence was the pure definition of warm, and it warranted Squalo to step back. He grimaced as though repulsed, but chose to see her topic through to the end just in case. With a hand over her chest area, Nana continued in a lower voice: "Really, I couldn't thank you more for being Tsuna's home tutor. Ever since you arrived, everything's been going better and better."

Squalo's grimace twitched, and noting the hesitation, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. Squalo had always known he was thought of highly by Nana, but as far as he could remember, it was the first time she had voiced the fact to him in a straightforward manner. Why, now? For what purpose? Seeing such an innocent, naive figure, there seemed to be none. No motive; no answer. A simple nonsensical, if not even pitiful bout of futile emotionality. He knew then to smirk genuinely to hide the truth, because he'd more than mocked the unknowing Sawada family. As such, despite his sour mood, he confidently claimed, "Of course everything's getting better when I'm around! Getting that brat into shape's my job!" Squalo turned around, towards the cash register. Hoping to avoid eye contact. "Anyway, if you don't wanna cause me trouble or whatever, let's get out of this damn shop already! I'm starving!"

Squalo noted Nana had followed him when he began stepping in that direction, and remembered the disgust he felt on that alleyway when recalling Tsuna facing success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last chapter, this story got 4 kudos, 1 subscription and 1 bookmark; thank you very much! And here are more Nana and Squalo moments nobody asked for! Then again, nobody needed to ask for them, and it just so happened this story would involve their existence by premise. Besides, it's fun, particularly for the two's huge contrast in personality. This time it did kind of a shift in mood, but oh well! As far as I could gather from her character, Nana's on the ditzy side, but she also seems to have a bit of a playful and overbearing side (also there are indications of a more serious side in the Varia arc but uuuh you get the idea) so I'm hopefully just utilizing what's on the show for its potential and she's in-character ='D


	35. Tsuna's Talents

"Oh, Sawada!" That overwhelming shout was impossible to miss, especially through the echo of the tall cliff lateral surface. However, Tsuna could not possibly look away from his own hands and distract himself now. "You went from a morning jog to a morning climb?! Your training is as extreme as always!"

"K-Kyoko-chan's brother..." Tsuna muttered in pure fear before pausing, letting the silence increase his focus on where to locate his left foot. When it was firmly in place, Tsuna attempted to shout out: "U-uh, good morning!" A trembling hand reached for a higher rock capable of holding his weight. He felt its texture and consistency, and decided not to hold onto that one if he treasured his own life. Just as he was about to decide on another one, and see if there was more worth in it than simply risking the previous one to quickly rising through the steep cliff—

"Good morning, Sawada!" Ryohei shouted back, and Tsuna tensed in a feeble attempt to keep balance despite noise. "To think you'd even go as far as to climb without safety gear or nets... You truly are one of the most passionate men I've met! That gutsy attitude is precisely what the boxing club embodies! How about it?! Are you gonna join—"

"You know, I'm kinda busy right now!" Tsuna had grabbed onto the stabler rock, predicting he could face death otherwise were he to take risks while Ryohei of all people was talking to him. "Could we talk s-some other time?!" Regardless, he glared at the steep, rocky cliff wall, and halted his progress simply to calm his fear. _Damn that Squalo... Just when I was getting used to running, he makes me start climbing! The worst part is that I can't go against him because he's too scary..._ He couldn't even bear looking upwards, where Squalo's blackened figure and the shining sun could be seen in unison. _Aaaah, what am I gonna do? Without any safety gear, there's no way I'm ever gonna survive this! I'll die for sure! I'm gonna fall eventually! If anything, it's already a miracle I've climbed this far...!_

"Voi, if you don't focus, you're dead!" Tsuna's survival instincts suppressed the urge to flinch hearing Squalo's voice echoing from above. At least, he was already used to hearing Squalo's voice from right beside him, so his ears were no longer as prone to hurting from the sheer volume.

"Don't talk to me, then!" Tsuna countered as he advanced only a few centimeters upwards, but he was not keeping track of his progress. He had a feeling that he would cry if he looked up and saw how far he was from reaching Squalo.

Meanwhile, Squalo, who stood at the very peak of the cliff, had a hand over his eyes as he tried to locate Ryohei by the base, near the river. When he finally sighted Ryohei's bright orange clothing, Squalo shouted, "You heard that, trash?! Tsuna doesn't wanna be bothered! Unless you want your friend to die, you better leave him alone!"

"Sawada's far too young to die here!" Ryohei said, "He's got a life of boxing and dreams ahead of him!"

"Voi, didn't I already say he wasn't gonna join your boxing club?!" Squalo argued, "And it's not like he's got any time for stuff like that when he's fighting for his life right now! Just scram and get out of our sights!"

"What?! Boxing is precisely the sport to do while fighting for your life! Any kind of willpower could get Sawada balancing both boxing and climbing!"

"The hell it can!" Squalo said, "If you don't wanna get sliced in three by my sword, you better get out of here!"

"Is that a challenge?!" Ryohei shouted. "If so, I accept! Sawada's tutor or not, I won't ever hold back, so wait there until I get to—"

"Shut up already!" Both Ryohei, by the cliff's base, and Squalo, by the top looked towards Tsuna with eyes blinking vacantly in surprise from the outburst. "This isn't any joke, okay?! I'm trying to focus here!" _Why am I even doing this? Damn it, Squalo, I thought I was getting used to your training; I was even getting a little proud of succeeding. But this is just too much... The only reason I'm not dead yet is..._

 _Squalo's training..._ Because of his heightened stamina, he wasn't as tired while carrying his body weight through the steep wall, for one. He knew he owed his survivability to the very person that had forced him into the absolute danger that was climbing... But he could not afford to stop, thinking of that. The more time he spent still, the more he would tire himself. He continued onwards, if only so he could survive. _If it weren't for him, I would never be doing something like this; not that I wanted to. But, just the fact that I'm managing it is amazing enough..._

Ryohei had gone silent, but he had yet to leave, Squalo noted. The only reason he himself was quiet was because he was busy observing the way Tsuna was achieving a feat he thought he would never truthfully execute. In fact, he had always been planning on saving Tsuna were he to fall, especially as he could not allow him to die just yet. As such, the fact that he was actually halfway into the cliff's wall, and still willing to continue was beyond Squalo's expectations.

Watching Tsuna climb with squinting eyes, Squalo saw the small pauses he'd make choosing where to support his feet or legs. They were mere moments, but he seemed to have a knack for finding exactly where to place himself. Had he been sent to climb the cliff's wall without any training, he would fall only from lack of stamina and courage. Squalo's eyes narrowed as he pondered on Tsuna ever having a talent, only to remember Vongola Blood coursed through his veins…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last chapter, this story got 16 kudos, 8 subscriptions and 1 bookmark; thank you very much! As for what happens here, I've honestly always planned to depict the evolution of Squalo's ridiculous training since I wrote chapter 4 because it's one of my favorite parts, and as Tsuna'd already ran through the Death Mountain from KHR I figured the next logical step was to get away from running. Now he's climbing the cliff from the Varia arc and somehow Ryohei stops by, which is kind of the most fun part to imagine: Ryohei just sorta jogs through all of Namimori (then again, everyone's been taking jogging to the max since the chapter where Tsuna was running through the mountain). There are some interesting parts with Tsuna and Squalo, which I had fun writing, of course. Writing Tsuna's thoughts is always a nice experience for me, hahaha.


	36. Yamamoto's Prowess

One Winter day, Tsuna was home with Yamamoto, and Squalo was not far from them within Tsuna's room. "Vooooi, get out of here, you piece of trash!" Tsuna scowled in face of Squalo's welcome, only to gulp when his death glare was now on him. "What did I tell you about bringing your stupid friends here?!"

Somehow, Yamamoto chuckled, and before Tsuna could cover for his friend, he spoke: "It's alright, Squalo. I was the one who insisted." Yamamoto then sat by the table, forcing Tsuna to follow suit if only so the brunt of Squalo's killing intent wouldn't fall solely on Yamamoto.

"As if that'd make it any better for me! Are you and the other two planning on making my daily life more of a pain in the ass than it already is?!" _Since when has it been a pain? You do nothing for most of the day!_ Tsuna incredulously thought. "Besides, we're busy right now! Tsuna's gotta study! You get up from this damn table and leave us alone!"

"Can't I just study with Tsuna, instead?" Yamamoto offered, his tone casual as he locked eyes with him. "You know, I've been noticing Tsuna's grades are getting better since you started teaching him, so maybe I could check how that is for reference. Besides, the more, the merrier, right?"

"Hell no! You think this is some charity?! You're lucky you got away from training with Tsuna alive, but you're not making something as boring as teaching worse than it is!"

"Squalo, you don't have to tell him off like that," Tsuna protested.

"What, you wanna have this guy around while you're studying?! There's no way you're gonna focus like that!" Squalo exclaimed, "And I sure don't wanna have to babysit another kid looking to take advantage of the situation!"

Yamamoto scratched his head as though troubled, muttering, "Guess he won't budge." He looked towards Tsuna with a slightly weaker smile, and Tsuna turned back to him with a small frown. "Well, we can hang out later, Tsuna, so it's alright."

"Yamamoto..." Saddened, Tsuna had little to utter back to Yamamoto, who was standing up from the table. He had briefly turned to the side of the room's window, only to tense.

Though he wouldn't admit it were someone to ask, Squalo's eyes widened slightly when he saw the brat he despised catch a ball that had been thrown through the open window of Tsuna's room. It had been a fast movement, one Yamamoto was likely so familiar with he executed it without thinking. Most of all, the speeds he had reached were beyond those of a normal person, and Squalo knew that better than anyone. "Whew," Yamamoto uttered as he lowered his hand to look at the ball. "Looks like someone threw this over here by mistake."

"W-woah..." _Yamamoto just caught that ball in a split second...!_ Tsuna thought in pure awe, _No wonder he's a baseball ace..._

Hearing shouting from beyond the open bedroom window, Yamamoto peeked outside, leaning towards the edges of the window with a smile. "You want me to throw this to you?" Shouts of approval resounded from outside, and Yamamoto chuckled while leaning lightly back to give his arm room for the throw. "Alright, then! Make sure you catch it and go play somewhere better some time, will you?" Then, leading a bored-seeming Squalo to blink in confusion, and Tsuna to tilt his head to the side, Yamamoto's eyebrows had furrowed, and his eyes were narrowed as though gauging precise distances. His carefree smile was now a focused smirk, and as he moved his arm back for the throw, he said in a voice lower than normal, "Here I go!" Tsuna flinched when Yamamoto let go of the ball, unable to even see it fly off the window from the sheer speed and power, and he was certain the children's squeals were not out of excitement, but sudden fear. _What just happened...?!_

"Why'd they run away?" Yamamoto questioned, frowning in confusion. "Oh, well..." He turned towards Tsuna and Squalo, and smiled now as if his mood were brightened by their presence. "Anyway, I wouldn't wanna bother Squalo some more, so I'll just go now. See ya!"

Surprisingly, Squalo remained silent. Tsuna had even bothered to look his way, expecting an insult from Squalo, something that would force Tsuna to interject. However, Squalo only stared at Yamamoto as he walked out of the room. "Uh, see you, Yamamoto!" As such, Tsuna was forced to speak up first, before Yamamoto had closed the room's door behind him: "Squalo? Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Something wrong? As if!" Squalo easily claimed, and glanced towards the window. "I was just thinking about that brat. He looks like a plain idiot, but he's got reflexes, I'll give him that." He'd been frowning then, pondering on Yamamoto, but when he looked back towards Tsuna, he grinned; an expression that would never bode well for Tsuna. "For a normal person, that is! As far as I could see, he was as slow as a snail!"

"Uh-huh..."

"What, don't believe me?" Squalo said with a quirked eyebrow. "If that looked any impressive to you, you've got a long way to go! Not like that'd surprise anyone, considering it's you!" Tsuna grimaced in face of Squalo's open mockery. _Ugh..._

"W-weren't you gonna teach me or anything?" Tsuna immediately said, if only to escape further awkwardness. The proposition worked with another bout of additional insistence, though Squalo's mood had soured with the task. However, as Squalo had driven Yamamoto away, Tsuna thought of the two as even in attributing suffering to each other in that particular instance.

On the other hand, Yamamoto lingered on Squalo's mind, thinking of his reports to the Ninth about people close to Tsuna with offensive potential. Knowing better than to fan the fire of Tsuna's candidacy, Squalo decided shortly into his time with Tsuna not to report this event to the Ninth, for even the brat's sake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last chapter, this story got 2 kudos and 1 subscription; thank you very much! This time, we actually use gags from the source material, amazing! I ended up using this target more for implications than anything, and finally hinted at the current timeline! Yes, it's Winter right now; Squalo arrived on Spring (at around May) and yeah I'm using the anime timeline for convenience despite knowing the manga.Yamamoto's fun to write in a lot of ways, but Squalo doesn't appreciate his existence, hahaha rip Yamamoto ='D


	37. Kyoko's Heart Revisited

"Now, Sawada!" Tsuna nodded in light of Mochida's exaggerated announcement, if only because he was certain of what it signified. "This day is gonna be recorded in Kyoko's History," Mochida claimed proudly, with a hand grasping his chest area as if from the sheer intensity of the circumstances. "This shall be the day Tsunayoshi Sawada takes initiative once and for all and begins to worm his way into her heart, only to eventually crush it until it learns never to trust men again!"

Tsuna proceeded shake his head then, realizing he somehow was not fully aware of Mochida's thought process. "That's not—"

"No more excuses, Sawada!" Mochida countered, "It's go time, and that's final! You didn't forget your lunch this time, did you?"

Tsuna sighed. "Not this time," he responded, though with a grimace, wondering how he even was disappointed by the obvious. _He's still thinking about getting revenge on Kyoko-chan..._

"Good! We wouldn't want a repeat of last time, after all! Anyway, since we're walking more or less by the same time as yesterday, Kyoko is bound to show up right around..." Mochida paused as he surveyed his surroundings, only to spot the light brown hair characteristic of his vengeance target. He pointed in her direction, and glanced Tsuna's way with a sly smile. "Now. Are you ready, Sawada?"

"Y-yeah," Tsuna weakly stated, "I am."

"Like I said before, there's no way she'd ever reject you now, so it's no use chickening— Wait, you're ready?" Mochida blinked in surprise. "That was faster than all the last times. What happened?"

Noting Tsuna's hollow gaze the moment he started processing Mochida's question, Mochida frowned in confusion. "With Squalo's latest way of training me, I guess I'm just starting to realize how fleeting life is..." Tsuna muttered in a surprisingly matter-of-fact fashion, warranting a concerned look from Mochida.

"Just what the hell is that maniac doing to you? You're sounding like an old man," he said, crossing his arms as he pondered on Squalo.

"To be honest, I don't wanna talk about it," Tsuna responded in the same strangely apathetic manner, only to remind himself of the current situation quickly, and gulping. "Anyway, I still don't really know if I'll make it in talking to her, but I've got to at least try, right?" _Besides, I've been improving in other areas, so it's not like I can even be called No-Good anymore. There's got to be hope for me now... Maybe.  
_

Tsuna's apprehensive, though now honest gaze warranted a smile from Mochida, who could perceive the gathered courage of his underclassman to reach that moment. "Well, I can't say you're wrong there," he said. "I'm not gonna pry on whatever your weird tutor's doing with you, but don't go overdoing it, alright? Now, get going, my apprentice...!" He pushed Tsuna just like last time, but Tsuna was prepared for the gesture, and seemed almost as though he slid for Kyoko from the unnecessary, albeit friendly push.

While misguided, Tsuna did appreciate Mochida's support; distraughtly so. He wryly frowned as he reminded himself he was ultimately trying to help an upperclassman have revenge on his crush, even if he wasn't truly planning on turning her down if a miracle happened and Kyoko confessed to him. Rather, it was saddening Mochida's earnest attempts had such a demerit, and Tsuna shook his head, so that his resolve would not wane. Tsuna's steps towards the girl of his dreams were faster, along with his heart rate, which he was managing to ignore at a level he himself could not believe. _Normally, this would be really scary,_ Tsuna thought, grimacing as he thought back only to yesterday: Squalo's threatening voice pushing him forward, Ryohei's genuine support, and his own apprehension in carefully picking each place to grasp; Tsuna rose his head high, walking even faster than before. _But it doesn't compare to the kind of fear I felt trying to climb that mountain on my own..._

... Already picturing Kyoko's face, however, Tsuna slowed down. _It's not like I'm going to c-confess to her or anything like that. I'm just gonna greet her. It can't go that wrong..._ He took a deep breath, and found his heartbeat steady with every step. He watched out for his distance from Kyoko, and precisely before he could be at arm's length from her, he momentarily closed his eyes, if only so he would not be as affected by his surroundings. "G-good morning!"

**. . .**

"Huh?" Due to the unknown voice, Tsuna immediately opened his eyes. "Were you talking to me?" The girl who had stopped upon being greeted had turned around with a frown, but her eyes were smaller comparatively to the Kyoko Sasagawa Tsuna knew. Furthermore, her voice was a few octaves lower, and from her facial structure, it was clear the only things she had in common with Tsuna's crush was the hairstyle and color, beyond the fact that this is also a Namimori Middle School student. Tsuna reluctantly stepped back, and briefly glanced behind him, towards Mochida.

Said upperclassman lay flat on the ground, as though unable to stand simply from the incredulity of the result of this try.

... Immediately, Tsuna regretted all of the resolve he'd built up for the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last chapter, this story got 8 kudos, 5 subscriptions and 2 bookmarks; thank you very much! On this episode of Mochida and Tsuna's Misadventures Saying Hi to Women, Tsuna actually takes initiative, and Mochida has another heart attack from the sadness of this time's failure, hahaha. Kyoko doesn't have a very iconic look, so I figured this might as well be another of the many sorry tries from Tsuna. Mochida is naturally super invested in Tsuna's efforts, and I kinda love how much of a dork he is about it. Meanwhile, Tsuna's going places, so I wonder how things will go with an actual Kyoko, huh?


	38. Tsuna's Progress

Another day was upon Tsuna, and Squalo's training remained was unchanged, with the same cliff being the only sight he could see. "Go, Tsuna! You're almost there! You can do it!" Yamamoto shouted from the cliff's base, though his voice was faint in comparison to Ryohei's.

"Come on, Sawada! A cliff is just a really big side of a rock! It's nothing in comparison to your fighting spirit!" Naturally, Ryohei was also present to seemingly cheer for Tsuna, despite all of his (and Squalo's) previous protests about breaking his concentration.

At that point, Tsuna was already numb to the matter. His friend's words would travel from one ear to the other and, admittedly enough, he did appreciate their consistent support. Even Squalo had given up protesting about their presence, as he did find some solace in being positioned at the top of the cliff, where their voices were less loud and annoying due to the distance.

"WHAT THE...?!" However, Tsuna knew the sudden loud voice contrary to support did not belong to Squalo, or Yamamoto and Ryohei. No, he was certain that was—

"M-Mochida-senpai?!" Tsuna's hand almost slipped in reaction to processing his unexpected presence; almost. He decided not to listen to Mochida, if only to ensure his peace of mind in climbing the cliff. According to Yamamoto, he was close to the top, and he hoped that was true. _Why is Mochida-senpai even here, though...?!_

"Sawada?! What the hell is he doing there?! Is this that maniac tutor's doing again?!"

"Voooi, who are you calling a maniac tutor, trash?!" Squalo immediately countered, and Tsuna had a feeling his voice was clearer to him than ever before, as though closer.

"Now, now, at least Squalo saves him whenever he falls," Yamamoto interjected to pacify the argument, offering Mochida a small smile.

"How?! He's at the top of the freaking cliff!" Mochida argued.

"Just shut up and watch for once, Mochida!" Ryohei exclaimed with a grimace, "Your negativity is ruining our cheering!"

"Wha—"

"Besides, look at how far up he's gone," Yamamoto said, pointing towards the cliff, at Tsuna. "That's definitely not something you can just do without having made a huge amount of effort. Tsuna's come a long way because of Squalo. If I had the courage for it, I'd even be joining him."

"Y-you two..." Mochida blinked, uncertain of how to even react. In this otherworldly scenario, Mochida was somehow the one spouting nonsense, and the reckless climbing of a cliffside was inspiring. On the other hand, he had to accept that there was great awe in seeing what was supposed to be his apprentice so close to the top of the cliff without having ever cheated. Mochida'd continued running through Squalo's previous course, but he felt behind the trend for this scene alone.

Meanwhile, Tsuna's concentration lay only on his sense of balance, challenged by the wind coursing through the area and his own fatigue. Regardless, he could barely see beyond the cliff's wall; just a few centimeters left. His right hand could almost grasp the edge, and he spotted Squalo's boots from the corner of his eye. In spite of the situation, Tsuna smiled. Finally, he was done. Somehow, he'd made it, once again.

As he let his hand surpass the boundary of the cliff wall, and pulled his weight over, Tsuna could hear further loud cheers from his friends, though he hardly could comprehend or properly register them. He panted, laid on the unsteady ground Squalo was effortlessly standing upon, but his smile remained intact, while Tsuna felt almost as though he truly could do anything if he put his mind into it. And it just so happened Squalo had made him realize that.

"Voi..." Tsuna slowly rolled to the side so he could catch direct sight of Squalo and his expression. Faintly, Tsuna's eyebrows furrowed in light confusion, especially as it seemed like Squalo was grinning. However, Tsuna noted, Squalo would only be amused if Tsuna were doing something wrong. "Don't tell me you forgot."

"Forgot...?" Tsuna asked. "What are you talking about?"

"There's no break time in the middle of training, and you sure as hell haven't finished, you piece of trash!" Squalo asserted, motioning towards the edge of the cliff. "Remember what I told you?! You're supposed to climb up and down this cliff five times! You only made it once!"

"S-seriously...?" Tsuna's voice was weak and hoarse, struggling to voice his weary show of disbelief. _Then, it was weirder of me to expect any less from Squalo..._ Trembling hands were pressed onto the ground, and helped supporting his body as he stood. He knew Squalo would start loudly threatening him were he to refuse again. He simultaneously knew that Squalo would ultimately never follow through the threats.

"Damn straight I'm serious! Now get climbing back down!" Squalo ordered, "We're only going back home when you're done or when I start feeling like it, so don't go thinking I'd go easy on you!"

"Right..." _Honestly, I probably won't make it back down without Squalo saving me,_ Tsuna thought as he glanced towards the cliff's edge. _I don't wanna go through that, either. It's way scary. But, I've already made it the first time, so..._ "I..." Tsuna took a deep breath. "I'll try..."

Squalo was almost disappointed Tsuna did not shriek in horror like he would in the past, but part of him could not resent Tsuna's newfound initiative, either. In turn, Squalo simply huffed, unwilling to admit to the small part of him that was slightly approving of his development, and glared Tsuna's way as he moved for the cliff wall, estimating when Tsuna would fall based on his current physical condition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last chapter, this story got 3 kudos; thank you very much! I was actually gonna upload this yesterday but I didn't make it, hahaha. Regardless, I was always a little insecure about this chapter pacing-wise, but then I realized what story I'm writing and that this is actually normal in this story's standards. Meanwhile, Mochida yet again sees himself behind the others and Tsuna's going places, particularly considering that's the one cliff Reborn trained Tsuna for the Varia arc. Mochida appears out of nowhere, but that's okay: he was probably jogging or something, he trains. To be honest, my favorite part of this whole chapter is the one Tsuna knows something's wrong because Squalo was grinning in light of his success lol


	39. Tsuna and Mochida

"... So, even if what you're saying doesn't make any sense, she'll still like it just because you're being confident about it. This means you don't actually need to think too hard about what you're saying, and you won't run out of topics, either," Mochida proudly explained to Tsuna, who walked by his side with a vacant frown. Tsuna had initially been a little happy Mochida was available to walk home with him on the one day both Yamamoto and Ryohei were busy with their clubs, but the content of Mochida's current conversation wasn't exactly what he was hoping for.

"That's great and all..." At the very least, Tsuna did appreciate Mochida's attempts at sound advice in snatching Kyoko's heart, but it nagged at his mind that he could almost forget he was supposed to just be going home with a friend; even if it was Mochida. He ultimately grimaced, and asked, "But, don't you have anything else to talk about?"

For a moment, Mochida blinked in pure confusion. "Something else...?" Then, he cast his gaze to the sky while pondering on the matter, perhaps simply to avert his gaze. "But the only thing tying us together is our desire to crush Kyoko." _That's just you! And since when did it become like that?!_ "What else would I be talking about with you?"

"Well, it's not like I'm hanging out with you just to get advice on Kyoko-chan..." Tsuna uttered with some hesitation due to the implications of his words, scratching the back of his head thinking on Mochida's strange reaction.

"Ah, right," Mochida said after a few too many seconds, smirking wryly. When he looked back again at Tsuna, he was winking. "I'm here to make you win at life, huh?"

"I'm thankful for that, too, but—" Tsuna bit his lip, deliberating in the midst of his panic whether to act on impulse. Eyes shut for a second, he said, "Uh, Mochida-senpai!"

"What?"

"How… Are things going for you?" Tsuna asked slowly, finding himself frowning bitterly towards Mochida's continuous, unwarranted blinking.

"For me?" Mochida pointed to himself with his thumb, only to scowl. "Seriously?"

"Is it bad that it's you?!"

"I, I mean, it's just unexpected!" Mochida countered, covering for his anxiety from Tsuna's sudden loud argument with a loose smile. "Aren't I always doing great?!"

"I guess…?!"

"Why would you ask, anyway?! Is something wrong?!"

"I was just… Wondering..." Tsuna muttered hollowly in the end, if only so Mochida wouldn't so intensely peer into his own gaze with a smirk so poorly etched on his features. _Isn't he supposed to be the sociable one here? Why do I feel like he's more awkward than I am?_ Tsuna sighed. _Still, I'd like to think he's just awkward, if anything..._ "I mean, we talk like this sometimes, but it's always— Huh...?!"

"What's— Oh, what the hell...?"

"W-wh-what am I gonna do?! What's happening?! Just why—?!"

"Quiet, Sawada! They'll notice us freaking out...!" Mochida uttered in a hushed voice after covering Tsuna's mouth with his hand and placing himself in front of his underclassman, as if to cover for him. Tsuna had not found it in himself to protest Mochida's actions, especially in light of the multitude of suited men in front of his house and their painfully intimidating gazes. Despite Mochida's efforts, the men had noticed both Tsuna and Mochida from afar, and their eyes were fixated on Mochida; almost dangerously so. Mochida took a step back, and proceeded to whisper: "L-listen here, alright? I don't know what's going on at your place, but it's clearly bad news. You have your mother's phone number or something?"

Tsuna nodded from behind Mochida, but knew he would notice as his hand remained on his face. "Then let's go at it this way: we run away into a safe place, call your mother and check if things are alright, and if she doesn't pick up or if things look back when she does, we call the police," Mochida asserted as he continued to step back, and Tsuna accompanied his movements. "Got it, Sawada?"

 _Mochida-senpai's... Being surprisingly reliable right now,_ Tsuna thought before nodding, but immediately flinched when he spotted movement from the men ahead of Mochida. Mochida had released his hand from Tsuna, and was internally glad for the fact that Tsuna was unable to see his distraught expression. He was originally going to muster a confident smirk, even brag about his exceptional intelligence in regards to dealing with the situation, but when one of the men in front of Tsuna's house had started walking in their direction, Mochida scowled, instead. "M-Mochida-senpai, he's..."

"I can see that, damn it!" Mochida shouted before turning around. "Now run like your life depends on it!"

"Y-Yeah!" Tsuna'd spotted the man that was about to approach them awkwardly stop upon hearing them, but Tsuna himself did not hesitate. He followed behind Mochida, but was quick to end up by his side, if only because he wouldn't leave him behind while escaping.

... However, just as Tsuna was noting his own speed and stamina with bewilderment, Squalo, who had just left the Sawada residence through the front door, spotted the two distracted boys from afar with a blank gaze. The Bucking Bronco had followed him curiously, but even that was not enough to garner his attention. Certainly, Tsuna did seem to improve his speed and stamina, but its application was misguided, and the longer Squalo had to stay with Dino and Reborn, the more troublesome the situation would become.

Irritation piling up in his mind, Squalo took off in order to chase Tsuna. "Voooooooii!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last chapter, this story got 12 kudos, 4 subscriptions and 3 bookmarks; thank you very much! Honestly, I still get surprised at how big these numbers are for a monthly count, hahaha (mfw I have to whip out a calculator so I don't lose count). Anyway, beyond all expectations, the awkward dialogue between Mochida and Tsuna's stopped by nothing other than the presence of Dino's men and yes, I have indeed not left it ambiguous at all! Still, having basically to write the characterization of Mochida from a single episode much to my anxiety since that involves making up tons of headcanons, it's really something that he ended up the dork he is here.
> 
> Then again, this IS the same guy who canonically said 'Though the Heavens may forgive you, I will not!' (edit: actually, he's even more epic because in the manga he literally says 'Though the gods may look the other way, I, Kensuke Mochida, will not forgive you!') and cheated against No-Good Tsuna (in the manga this guy gives Tsuna heavier armor on top of the referee cheating and I'm just standing there thinking 'dude omg overkilling it only makes you look lamer' but he was thinking he was being awesomely sly this man must be a dork--).


	40. Dino and Reborn

On the background of the growing tension in the dining room of the Sawada residence, Nana giggled as though observing a friendly gathering. Sat by the table were Squalo, Tsuna and Mochida on one side, and Dino Cavallone and Reborn on the other. One of the two visitors was familiar to Tsuna, but he was certain he hadn't seen the blond man before, though Squalo appeared to know him personally. "Sorry I ended up surprising you with my men," Dino said in a friendly fashion, flashing his best smile to break the ice of the situation. "They don't like leaving me alone, you see. Whenever I go out, I pretty much always have them around."

"We just get worried you don't go tripping yourself up while we're not looking," one of the suited men near the kitchen interjected, leading Dino to smirk.

"Come on, you don't have to make me look bad in front of the next Vongola boss," Dino retorted, and heard laughter from within the house among other remarks.

Meanwhile, Tsuna and Mochida glanced each other's way as if there was no one else they could rely on. "Hey..." Mochida whispered, hoping at least Dino wouldn't be able to hear him, "Did that guy just now say you're the next 'Vongola boss'...?" Tsuna flinched. _Oh no, he's gonna start thinking I'm an actual mafia boss or something...!_

Although Tsuna attempted to remedy the matter, opening his mouth, he was immediately cut off: "He did," Reborn wilfully asserted, and his squeaky voice was enough to have doubt arise in Mochida, who blinked in Reborn's direction.

To Tsuna's surprise, Mochida did not proceed to recoil from shock. Instead, he scowled as though angered, and countered, "Whatever it is you're getting Sawada into, it sounds shady to me. I'm not about to just let you have your way with this 'Vongola' business without an actual explanation of what's going on here."

This time, Reborn and Dino had glanced each other's way, as if to read each other's thoughts. "Hmph," Reborn uttered with a smirk, "Looks like you found yourself a reliable subordinate on your own, Tsuna. You probably don't even need Squalo at this point."

"Voi! Don't forget the Ninth is the one who sent me here!"

Dino directed his gaze to Mochida with a smile. "Worried about Tsuna?" he asked. "Things might be looking a little confusing right now, but to put it simply, we're the good guys and Squalo's probably part of the bad guys, so we're trying to support him in our own way."

"Nobody asked for your damn opinion, Bucking Bronco!" Squalo argued again by Tsuna's side, and Tsuna grimaced from the volume of his voice.

"No, wait," Mochida interjected with crossed arms, "You're all misunderstanding something big here. You talk like Sawada's above me, but he's my underclassman, you know? If anything, he's my subordinate, not the other way around!"

 _Who cares about that?! They think I'm in the mafia!_ However, Dino and Reborn, after processing Mochida's input, snorted as though to contain their laughter, but Reborn was the only one successful in the endeavor. "I guess there's still a lot ahead of you," Reborn remarked, "Since Squalo's basically useless as a home tutor, I'll give you a free lesson: you should start thinking more about the Family, Tsuna. The most important trait of any boss is their willingness to protect their family from harm. That's how you earn respect."

"Family...?" Tsuna questioned in plain confusion for the foreign term. "What?"

Dino sighed. "It really is a bad as I thought..."

"Wait, what are you two talking about?"

"Well, he's managed to land two more members without knowing it, so that's already something," Reborn said, ignoring Mochida who shot him a glare

"Two more members...?" Tsuna voiced. _If they're treating Mochida-senpai like he's a subordinate, too, that means..._ "Are you talking about Kyoko-chan's brother and Yamamoto?! How do you know them, even?! N-no way, there's no way I'd wanna involve them in this! I don't even wanna become a— A Vongola boss!"

"Heh, he's just like how I used to be, look at that," Dino commented.

"I guess even Squalo's got it rough after all," Reborn added.

"It's rough on both sides, really. I probably wouldn't want to become a boss if Squalo were my tutor."

"True," Reborn said.

"... Voi," Squalo uttered, making Tsuna realize he had been quiet for longer than expected out of someone so loud, but his expression was characteristic of his usual resentment. "I stick around thinking you have some important business, but you're just here to trash-talk me in front of Tsuna?! If you've got time for that, you've got time to get the hell out of here! I'm not about to have your influence all over the damn brat!"

"It'd be better than yours," Reborn cheekily retorted.

"Like hell it would!"

"Now, come on," Dino said, "You might not think this is serious business, but it is to us. Basically, we came here to check on the Tenth Vongola boss, and this isn't the last you'll see of us." Locking eyes with Squalo, Dino then frowned for the first time, calmly enough it was intimidating. "If anything, consider our business here warning you that we're not gonna leave you two alone." Squalo tensed, yet again to Tsuna's surprise, as he didn't expect his tutor to take someone else so seriously.

**. . .**

... However, as much as he could read the mood, Mochida could not help but ask in raw frustration, "Seriously, though, what the hell are you all even talking about?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last chapter, this story got 2 kudos and 1 subscription; thank you very much! I'd introduced Dino into the story a while back, and he finally showed up again! He talks like he'll be watching over Tsuna and Squalo 24/7 but the point's more like 'you better watch out Squalo because I'm on support', not to mention the general Squalo trash-talking in this scene. The very first moment was my favorite part, while I kinda struggled with Reborn for a bit, but the impression that most lingers reading this is how confused Mochida is, hahaha.


End file.
